Strawberries and Strangers
by VenusUnchained
Summary: "Blind Date" - Mina goes on a blind date with the wrong guy (Strangers to Lovers trope) "Okay Mister Mob Boss, I'll ask you a real question." Grinning slyly over a sip of champagne, she crossed her legs allowing more of her thigh to become exposed. Khai was slick, but she didn't miss the distracted shift of his eye. Light and expecting, so interested and expressive without words,
1. Strawberries and Strangers

She liked to make an entrance, slinking into the too fancy restaurant about seven forty instead of the agreed-upon seven-thirty for dinner. It was all the same to her, no stranger to being set up with handsome, successful men from the modeling or social media realm by the grace of her co-workers in that very industry. They all took her to these over the top expensive ordeals just to bore her with how successful they were, or how beautiful she was like they had something to prove. She was beautiful, sort of her calling card and based on the heads that turned as she swung her hips into the dining area in her short a-line mini dress and heels, she'd chosen her attire well. The royal blue color played well with her golden hair, and the square neck of it set low enough on her chest to allow her cleavage to speak for itself. It did wicked things to her curves, the skirt playing well with her legs as she sauntered to a slow stop to scan the room for her date.

Her friend so graciously exchanged their numbers for them, and from what she could tell from their short exchanges he'd be a real bore. Older, more of a business type from what her friend described and Mina was already met with a certain dread when in his text he simply said to '_search for silver,' _though she quickly learned what that meant.

He sat in a corner booth, one of those intimate tables with nothing but a cushioned bench along one side that forced you to sit beside whoever you dined with instead of across. She was filled with adrenaline as her premature judgments of him were proven very wrong, and she began the slow move toward his table. His face was angular, with sharp features but soft lips. Long, very smooth stark silver hair fell over his shoulders, brought out by the creamy tan shade of his skin, and when he looked up at her in her approach, she found his eyes the same sort of piercing steely grey. The man was downright ethereal.

"Fashionably late." He commented without so much as glancing back at his watch, voice deep and very lightly kissed by a foreign accent she couldn't quite place but it quickened her heartbeat to a thrilling pace. Mina smiled and slipped into the booth beside him, noting with a bit lip that the very finely tailored suit he wore was as only made that sexy by the no doubt incredible body beneath it.

"Only because the wait is always worth it." Her lips curled smugly, watching his very calculating eyes address her attire over his glass while he took a long drink.

"That it is." He commented smoothly, setting down his glass and gesturing toward a server who seemed to practically drop what he was doing to get to their table. "Do you need a moment with the menu?"

"It's all the same with these places isn't it?" This seemed to amuse him, as his lips just barely quirked but it was there in the grey of his eyes. Mina looked up at the seemingly nervous Waiter and pushed her still folded menu toward him. "I'll have the strawberries and champagne, and the oysters in sauce with angel hair."

This didn't seem to surprise the man beside her, though his lips did quirk a little more as he ordered another bourbon and some boring salmon and asparagus dish. Mina always ordered the same thing on these over the top dates, mostly to see if they paid a lick of attention to her romantic palette.

"You order like a woman in love." He was clinking the ice in his empty glass, pausing to lift his eyes back to hers as the waiter scurried away to place their orders.

"Mm, the night is too young to decide that just yet," Lifting one of the wine glasses of ice water to her lips, kissing the rim for a refreshing drink leaving remnants of her cherry balm on the glass. Mina was titillated that he appeared to at least pay attention, even when he was still checking his watch, or busing himself with his empty glass. "But just in case, my name is Mina."

"Khai." He answered, nodding his thanks to the waiter when he dropped off their drinks. She paused to try and remember what her friend had told her his name was, it didn't sound right, and while his name explained his subtle accent, Mina began thinking she had the wrong table. Much to her annoyance since this guy was mysterious, and far better looking than any man had a right to be.

"That is a very unique, very beautiful name," He smiled at this, a breathtaking shift of his face that revealed a dimple in one cheek, "but I gather I have the wrong table, and you are waiting for someone that isn't me."

"Well, they are far more than fashionably late, which in my industry is professional suicide since they haven't had the courtesy to call." Mina swallowed a crisp, bubbly sip of champagne and skirted her eyes out toward the other tables. "I gather you didn't come to sit at some strange man's table and sip champagne."

"I did in fact, but I didn't hear you complaining when we ordered." She smiled knowingly, reaching for one of the huge strawberries the waiter brought with her drink. His eyes drifted to her mouth as she sank her teeth into the fruit, lips hugging to keep the juice from trailing down her chin. Mina kept her eyes on him too, noting how stern and proper he seemed, even in his apparent distraction he merely swallowed hard and tore his eyes from her to take another drink.

"Admittingly, you seem like better company, but if you have someone waiting, I won't be offended." As if on cue their food arrived, and Mina scooted on the leather bench a bit closer toward him. She caught a whiff of his scent, and if a cool desert night had a scent it was a perfect replication of his cologne. Something light and clean with just the right hint of spice, a better aphrodisiac than anything presented on the table in front of them.

"I guess it's too late, isn't it?" His eyes were much sharper the closer she brought herself, framed by thick black lashes that softened him all the more when he smirked knowingly. There was a certain pleasure in it, where she'd at least sent a few texts to the other guy here and there, Khai was a complete and total stranger. "So Khai. You're clearly not from Tokyo."

"Istanbul." He replied with charm in the quirk of his lip. "You?"

"London." She admitted behind her napkin as she ate, wiping the sauce from the corner of her lips. "But we aren't going to spend tonight asking for mundane information, are we? Ask me something real."

This did surprise him, made him take a moment to think over a bite of his salmon. It shouldn't have been distracting, but she got caught up in the motions of his jaw as he chewed, and fixated on his mouth. It was sinful really, one of those mouths that made her imagination run wild with thoughts not suited to first dates, let alone very blind ones.

"Alright," He began, wiping his mouth with a thoughtful glance, "What's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen."

"Well that's not fair, we just met." She flirted, grinning when she swore his complexion turned a tinge bit red, but he played it cooler than cool and laughed it off.

"Okay, tell me how you'd treat someone, knowing they can't do anything for you."

"That's a silly question. Everyone can do something for someone." Mina thought of her friends with a fond smile, and slid one of the oysters down her throat in an easy, practiced fashion. "If you enjoy someone's presence, then what else do you need? My friends are my world. Them being there and putting up with my day to day antics is more than enough for me."

"I doubt they put up with you." He began, seemingly charmed. "Good answer though."

"I have low standards for happiness but my heart is always open. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not playing for keeps." She wagged her finger at him playfully, wrapping her fingers around the condensed glass of cold water for another drink, eyeing him over the rim.

"Well, I don't usually entertain strange women, or start off by having any expectations."

"Then how did you know I was late earlier?" She twirled her fork through some pasta, raising her brow in observation of how the wait staff seemed to flinch every time the man raised his finger.

"No one schedules dinner at seven forty." He quipped, polishing off his second bourbon.

"Fair." She shifted in her seat purposefully, resting her leg against his. Khai noticeably tensed but continued eating as though he didn't notice. "So you don't usually entertain strange women, but that doesn't mean you've never."

"Not like this of course. It's not every night a charming, beautiful woman just invites herself to my table." He winked one of his pale eyes and smirked as he chewed. Mina reached for more water, suddenly very thirsty.

"You must be someone important the way they all cater to your every whim, the way they all stare." Khai chuckled softly her surveillant comment, not bothering to lift his eyes an inch from hers to acknowledge it.

"Everyone is important to someone. It's not what they see when they look at me, or you for that matter."

"And what is it you think they see when they look at us?" She took another sip of champagne, smirking over her glass into his very attentive eyes.

"Strangers, enjoying a meal." He replied, plainly.

"You don't get out much." She giggled as he gave her a look, intrigued by her hasty observation but said nothing. Urging her on with a quirk of his brow, small motions of his face that seemed to speak for him. "People love to make up stories, scandals. Though I don't see a ring."

"No. Not married."

"So who is important to you?" Mina leaned forward on the table, leaning toward him with a curious smile. He was mysterious and far too charming to not be attached. She was a girl to fall in love recklessly, and so far Khai was currently too good to be true.

"Right this moment I can't think of anyone else." He winked, and Mina noted he switched to water instead of ordering another bourbon. "What about you?"

"Likewise, though I find it hard to believe you don't have some girl sitting by the phone right now, waiting for her doting boyfriend to get back from his business meeting."

"You're right, people do like to make up stories." He chuckled and shook his head, sitting casually back against the red cushioned booth. "No girlfriend currently."

"Boyfriend?"

"No, no boyfriend." Mina could only stare in disbelief as his smile spread wider sending a hyper fluttering in her stomach. "I'm told I have very high standards."

"I should feel honored then." She giggled, shifting her eyes slyly up toward the ceiling in momentary thought. "So you're married to your job then. Makes sense why you'd hold a business meeting at such a romantic restaurant on a Friday night."

"Guilty." He admitted, and Mina actually found comfort in the fact that he wasn't actually perfect. Not entirely.

"So then in what industry is being late to a dinner meeting professional suicide? I gather you're a powerful man in your industry for such drastic repercussions." Amusedly, she grabbed another strawberry, twisting the stem in her fingers and gave Khai a playful nudge. "Unless you're some Mob boss, and I should run far, far away."

"Ah, I thought we were avoiding mundane questions." He chuckled, if you could call the deep, sexy hum in his throat such a thing, watching as she took a bite of the strawberry. "I guess I'll have to quit the Mob then. It'd be a shame to let a chance meeting like this slip through my hands."

Her heart fluttered, and confidence boosted, she shifted closer in her seat until their arms practically touched, and she bore her pretty blue eyes into him with a purpose. She wasn't a girl to just throw herself at someone she didn't know, but Mina figured a little culinary foreplay wasn't exactly the point of no return.

"Okay Mister Mob Boss, I'll ask you a real question." Grinning slyly over a sip of champagne, she crossed her legs allowing more of her thigh to become exposed. Khai was slick, but she didn't miss the distracted shift of his eye. Light and expecting, so interested and expressive without words, he trailed his appreciation back up to her face, swallowing hard when Mina leaned in closer. "When is the last time you had a first time for anything?"

"Aside from right now? It's been a long time." He was unmoveable, unwavering in the proximity that had left their food forgotten on the table in front of them, hunger shifting dramatically toward something less innocent. "What did you have in mind?"

"Champagne? It goes great with the strawberries." She offered her glass to him, rim marked by her lips and his silvery eyes pierced her when he accepted. Mina took another bite of her strawberry, watching his mouth kiss the flute while he finished the remainder of her glass, exhaling very softly through his lips.

Mina took the delicate stem in her fingers, taking it from Khai's hand to place back on the table. He had no mercy to relieve her from his intoxicating stare, so she wouldn't grant him any such reprieve herself. Wordlessly she leaned on his arm, the heat of her stare locking him into place as she shifted a bit of her golden hair behind a shoulder to shamelessly provide Khai with a better view. By the time she felt his fingers lifting her chin, her breath was already gone, the ache building inside of her when he got close enough that their breath mingled. The smallest of moans came as a satisfied hum, pooling her desire lower and turning dangerous the moment she felt his soft lips against her own.

He didn't kiss like some stuffy overworked businessman, not the way his tongue lightly brushed her upper lip as he pressed his mouth briefly against her own in a manner that sent her stomach into her throat as though she were falling. He lingered too long to be chaste, certainly not long enough, but short enough to keep some form of propriety when it came to the fact that they happened to be in a very crowded, very fancy restaurant. When he pulled back, there was somehow heat in the cool tones of his eyes and Mina met the blaze with the same intensity, ready to further sample the bourbon lingering on his tongue.

"It does taste exceptional tonight," He muttered with a bit of breath to his voice. It wasn't the first time she'd kissed a stranger, but certainly the first time she was left feeling so flustered. "Hardly attributed to the fruit. Should I order more?"

Khai lifted a finger again to flag the waiter, his eyes like smoke as they shifted toward her, carrying heat despite the tension on his mouth. She shook her head to decline, and slowly uncrossed her legs, boldly urging the hand he'd rested on the tablecloth to rest on her knee. "You decide, do you want more?"

The waiter came, and he cleared his throat, ordering another bourbon as well as the check. She might have felt stupid if he recoiled, but instead, she felt the pads of his fingers gently graze the skin there, hesitant but lingering, respectful. And it did nothing but fan whatever fueled her madness forward.

"Dangerous question to ask a stranger, Mina right?" Despite the words, his hand drew up further on her thigh where his fingers lightly kneaded the flesh, and she drew in a heavy breath between her lips.

"Mm, well this is a first for me too." She breathed, biting her lip against the gentle urgency of his hand, her mind racing with the ways she found herself wanting him to touch her. Reluctantly, as though he gained some modicum of sanity, he withdrew the hand and raked his fingers through the length of his silver hair. Mina wondered if he even knew his hand was shaking.

His lips parted to speak, eyes betraying whatever he was about to say, so she decided to interrupt his thoughts, and place the night's fate in his hands. She shifted her hips a bit, skillfully and barely discreetly lowered her red lace panties down her thighs, letting them drop to the floor before she bent to bundle them in her fist. Her heart was pounding so she could only imagine what the motion did to him, but it was then that the waiter came to bring his bourbon and that small leather-bound folder containing their bill.

Khai's jaw was clenched and there was maybe a bit of tension on his brow when he politely thanked the waiter and reached for his wallet in the pocket of his suit jacket. She felt him freeze when he probably felt Mina put her hand in his opposite pocket where she felt nothing but a small ring of keys, and deposited her underwear.

"No pressure." She purred quietly as the waiter walked away. "I'm going to go catch a cab." He began to heavily drink his bourbon. "Where that cab goes is up to you, but if I never see you again, thank you for dinner."

At this, Mina leaned forward to kiss his cheek. He didn't say a word, only turned to look at her as she stood, holding his eyes and by the grace of her ballet lessons sauntered back the way she came toward the entrance of the restaurant with some form of grace.

It had just rained so the streets glimmered under Tokyo's many lights, and Mina stepped toward the curb to seek out a cab. Her heart was pounding wildly like she just got off of some roller coaster, knees weak from his brief touch and even briefer kiss. A thrill she'd never gotten from any stranger left her rattled and rife with a wanting that almost made her pray it would take her longer to hail a taxi, and that maybe this Khai guy felt it too.

"If you think never seeing you again doesn't have pressure attached to it, you're very wrong." His voice was deep, breath warm against the shell of her ear he whispered into, and Mina felt his hands on her waist from behind, a strong chest for her to lean against. He was taller than she thought initially, and like age-old lovers she placed her hands on his, bringing his arms to wrap around her more securely.

"I don't know if I like that you can see right through me." Turning to face him, Mina ran her hands along his arms, his chest, fingering the lapels of his suit jacket with a bit lip. Through however many layers of cloth he chose to wear, she could feel the strength in him that only further served the anticipation flourishing inside of her. "In this instance, I think I'm glad you did."

"As long as you know, I don't do these things. Ever." He punctuated, capturing her lips with his in a fashion rather contradictory of what she knew of his character so far, and she believed him. She'd never been a bourbon girl before, but the moment he opened his lips to her she moaned desperately into his mouth and allowed him to press her against the light pole on the corner. He parted slowly, briefly, with a mirrored hunger in his eyes, lips brushing as he whispered, "I want more."

She wasn't sure how long they kissed like two drunken teenagers, but the breathiness of his declaration completely rid Mina of any rational thought. People passed them without a second thought, and if he cared, Khai showed no signs of it, only kissed her with the sort of abandon of a starving man. She wasn't stupid, she knew where this was going, and when she felt the light caress of his lips on her neck beneath her earlobe she thought her knees might give.

"Cab." She breathed, shakily pulling from his arms to try and hail one. Two passed them by, and her weak attempts were thwarted by the loudest whistle she'd ever heard, his arm raised above her head to flag one. Finally, one of the vehicles pulled to the curb, and as the door slowly opened, Khai grabbed her wrist anxiously to pull her inside.

His lips were on hers before either had told the cab driver where to drive them. Surely it wasn't the first time the poor driver had some amorous couple fall into his transport and forget to give him a destination. She was far too distracted by his hands that pulled her closer to him, the delicious mingling of bourbon on his tongue, the silken feel of his hair in her fingers, and the light moans that were probably the final straw for the driver, who asked a very biting "Where to?"

"Hotel Century, South Tower…" Khai managed in perfect Japanese, earning a half interested, half scolding look from the driver. Mina began untying his tie, an effort to loosen his shirt some to inhale the spicy and cool scent of his skin beneath. Giggling and draping the tie loosely around her neck while he eagerly unbuttoned the first three on his shirt impressively with one hand. She grasped him around the back of his neck to pull him closer, clamping her lips around his pulse, relishing the strangled gasp he released to the overheated air of the cab.

"Touch me." She whispered, nibbling on his earlobe between the few piercings she hadn't noticed he wore, running her thumb along his parted bottom lip. They had a little bit of a drive to the hotel, and Friday night traffic was not playing in favor of their rapidly urgent need. She didn't need to tell him twice.

Khai easily turned the tables, burying his fingers her hair he kissed along the long column of her neck, nipping and sucking, running his tongue along her skin until she felt like crying out, and he hadn't really even touched her yet. She curled her fingers in his hair at the nape, lifting her chin, urging him for more with the canting of her hips, and she spread her knees just so until he took the hint and curled his long fingers around her thigh. His hand trailed higher, kneading the fleshy muscle beneath her dress until she could feel the tips of his fingers brush along the inviting entrance of her, separating slick folds with the very lightest of touches.

Mina pulled his mouth back to hers, a poor attempt to stifle the whimper, the needing moan she released when he began to stroke her. Growling low against her lips when he found how wet she was already, running his index and middle fingers between the lips and folds of her, toying with her bundle of nerves, swollen and sensitive with want, drinking her moans and stifling them with his tongue. She lost one of her shoes to the cab floor when he eased his middle finger into her entrance, curling her toes the same manner he curled his finger to seek out what maddening pleasure he could bring her.

"You're so tight." Khai breathed as he added his index finger, deepened grey eyes like brushed steel watching as her head fell back with a barely contained moan, brows furrowing as her body stretched some to accommodate the digits that pumped into her without mercy, the heel of his palm rubbing into her clit with each motion. "If you taste as good as your lips, I may not want to do anything else tonight."

At this her hand fell to his thigh, warm and firm under her fingers, to grip at him as the coiling sensation began to gather, threatening to unwind her any moment. Her fingers encountered something long, and firmly pressed against his inner thigh that made him groan at the contact, distracting her just enough that she didn't just immediately come apart. Mina's first instinct was to balk at the size as her fingers wrapped and lightly squeezed the generous length, earning a very lightly gasped curse from Khai's lips which very urgently closed over her own. She began to trace him through his slacks, running her fingers along the defined head where it twitched, up the groin and back down again.

The cab lurched forward, the driver having to slam on the brakes for having apparently been watching the two a bit too long and almost slammed into another cab in front of them. Khai shot daggers toward the poor man with his eyes, but Mina giggled a little even if the interruption made him regrettably stop what he was doing with his fingers while she scrambled to find her lost shoe.

"Are we there yet?" She breathed, locking eyes with him as he brought his middle finger to his lips, drawing the coated digit into his own mouth with an approving hum as he sucked it clean. Wrapping her fingers around his wrist, she pulled the hand away from his mouth to her own, sucking his entire index finger into her mouth. He suppressed a moan behind his teeth when her tongue ran the length of the digit to clean her light musk from him, and frantically glanced out the window.

"Less than a block."

"Let's go." Mina grinned and grasped the hand with the finger she'd just been mercilessly sucking on,eyeing Khai like he was her next meal. The hotel was quite close to the train station and traffic was at a stop for the most part so Khai leaned forward to speak to the driver who was none too pleased about his request to let them out in the middle of the street.

She watched him gesture toward the hotel, becoming confused when they began talking about beer until she realized he was actually talking about the building, and wished she paid more attention to all those Japanese courses she'd been forced to take since Junior High. Finally, the door clicked open slowly, and another spat began when Khai paid the man too much, but Mina very impatiently grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the busy sidewalk.

"Gomen nasai!" Mina called behind her with a wave while the cab driver proceeded to rip Khai a new one, but she could only laugh. Tokyo's masses were still out in full force, and she felt his fingers entwine with hers, his long stride allowing him to catch up as she dragged him through the sea of people. Khai paused at the corner intersection, the hotel looming elegantly over them and he pulled her back against his chest with an arm barred across her midsection, refusing to let go of her hand.

"You're in a hurry." Goosebumps dotted her arms and chest at the huskiness of his deep voice, panting warmth against her ear. A slight chill came from the misting rain that had begun to fall since they left the restaurant, so the contact was welcome.

"I can be very impatient. When there's something I want." She purred in return, leaning back to kiss him like she hadn't just met him little more than a few hours prior.

By the time they reached the hotel lobby, it was Khai pulling her passed the check-in desks and directly toward the elevators. He pressed a button for a floor seemingly rather high up, and simultaneously pinned her to the elevator wall, where it suddenly all became very real for her. His mouth was busy at her neck again, nipping her earlobe and making her absolutely crazy, but he seemed to sense her hesitation when her fingers loosened their grip on his hair.

"I don't normally do this." He assured again, "You don't have to.."

"I want you." She replied with all of the confidence in the world, thrilling as it was to follow a stranger back to his room, it was also dangerous. "But the hotel-"

"Oh, mundane detail, "He smirked, and brushed her hair aside to kiss her shoulder, causing her to very visibly shiver, and her fingers went to work on the vest he wore under his suit jacket. The fewer layers she'd have to worry about, the better. "I'm new in town, staying here until my place is ready."

His words came breathy and disjointed as she became more at ease again, coming up on her toes to nibble on his Adam's apple. She hooked her leg around him, pressing her hips against his to seek that very prominent, hardened bulge she'd discovered back in the taxi as it very slowly pressed back into her. The door dinged open, and Khai very eagerly picked her up like she weighed nothing, letting her legs wind around his hips without a care of who might be lingering in the hallway. Mina gave into the excitement of it, gasping into his mouth while he pressed her intimately against the wall by his door, grinding his hips into hers while he fumbled to get the key card to work.

The door crashed open, and Mina found herself slammed against the opposite wall, sending the painting hanging there clattering in a symphony of broken glass. It did nothing to stop their feverishly deep kisses, or the way she clung to him, grinding herself on his groin while his fingers so deliciously gripped her ass to hold her in place. Further into the room she found her footing on the plush carpet, immediately peeling off his suit jacket and vest, leaving them in heaps on the floor. She clawed to get his shirt untucked, fumbling with the buttons while he ravaged her mouth and she could somehow discard his shirt. He pulled the loose tie from around her neck and threw it somewhere she couldn't care about, kneading her ass beneath her skirt while they clamored into furniture and she tried working at his belt.

Khai had other ideas, of course, ripping down the zipper to her dress, hungrily pulling the thick straps from her shoulders, to let the royal blue garment pool at her feet. Mina helped him with the strapless bra she was wearing, throwing it somewhere in the sitting area, leaving her completely bared aside from her shoes which helped her gain some leverage against his imposing height. She could scarcely appreciate the God-like body she knew might be underneath that suit, because once he had her naked and in his arms, Khai was everywhere.

He lifted her onto a desk or vanity of sorts, the lamp falling and breaking no doubt because the room became dimmed and lit primarily by the moon as it peaked through the rain clouds and the lights of Tokyo's never sleeping city.

"My God, you're beautiful." He whispered against her neck, mouth hot, and urgent against her skin. The panting breaths of desire heating and arousing her beyond measure as Khai lifted her breasts to his lips, marking her pale flesh, and hardening the pink tips with sinful flicks and swirls of his tongue. Mina was all but close to begging when his mouth trailed lower, the telling and deviant gleam of his eyes as he pulled her shoes off and spread her wide, bringing her feet up to support her on the surface of the desk.

Khai kept his hands tight on her ankles to keep her in place, and Mina ran her fingers through his hair, gripping it in her fist to keep it out of his face while he dipped his tongue into her with a low moan, and clamped his mouth over the aching, swollen bundle of nerves, sweeping his tongue through her folds to taste every bit of her. Her fingers tightened in his hair, and she fell back against the mirror behind her with a breathy moan that she did nothing to stifle for the first time that night, and it was enough to set Khai into a feverish rhythm.

She'd been with other guys, but it was never like this. It was like he knew her body better than she did, the perfect rhythm, the perfect pressure as though this beautiful stranger had been plucked from her most erotic fantasies. Once he was satisfied her position was secured, he released one of her ankles to slip his two fingers back into her entrance while she was devoured like some foreign and forbidden delicacy. Mina gasped and gripped the top of the mirror behind her to keep herself steady, her back arching into his ever eager mouth, tongue slippery and caressing on her most sensitive flesh, and her fingers gripped tighter into his hair as the tension began to build. Air became hard to come by under the relentless indulgence of his sinister tongue, her toes curling over the edge of the vanity, lifting her hips to give him a better angle until the sensations became almost unbearable.

All at once she fell apart, her moans becoming pitched and desperate, her legs all but tried to give out on her, but Khai kept slipping his fingers into her, curling them into her sopping wet entrance while her body pulsed and twitched from his relentless tongue as he lapped at her overly sensitive clit. Finally, Mina pushed him off of her, and he willingly fell back into a chair that had been thrown out of the way she assumed belonged in front of the vanity.

She crawled into his lap before she even found her breath, losing herself to his sinful mouth now flavored by her own musky taste. She gave his mouth a rest however, leaving his swollen lips parted when she sat up on his thighs to finally touch him, appreciate the power in his arms and chest, and the defined muscles of his stomach. His eyes were a deepened gunmetal color by now, darker than the storm clouds outside and almost tangible with the intensity with which he watched her. His skin was so warm, so smooth, and scented like that whole room she realized, spicy but cool, exotic and addicting. Mina sank back down to the floor on her knees between his thighs, running her lips and tongue along the definition of his body until she reached his hips where she paid special attention to the V lines that accented his pelvis.

"I'm not done with you." Khai smirked down at her as she continued her work on his belt, and finally got his slacks unbuttoned and zipped. Her fingers curled into his boxer-briefs and pants, allowing him to lift his hips while she kissed and licked those lines she found so sexy.

"I can't let you have all the fun." She purred, pulling harder to release him of his pants. As he had, she helped him out of his shoes, pulled every bit of cloth that covered his tanned skin from him with only minor bouts of impatience that seemed to bring him a bit of amusement.

She kissed his thighs, trying not to reveal the intimidation that fluttered in her stomach when she touched him, licked the soft bits of skin below his cock which rest thick and hard against his stomach pulling the sexiest moan she'd ever heard from his lips. Her tongue ran over the engorged spheres, gently massaging the delicate flesh with her fingers as she kissed her way up the shaft of him, gripping the base with her free hand to gain better access to the swollen head. Khai's head fell back briefly with a breathy curse before fixing his eyes on her, watching as she wrapped her lips around him, tasting the light salt of his skin and exploring him with her tongue. He was a challenge, but she found she could wrap both hands around the thickness of his cock and enjoy the rest of his length in wet strokes from her mouth. Not that it stopped Mina from testing her own boundaries and trying to fit as much of him as she could into her throat, his breathy curses and moans feeding her desire until all she could think about was how he'd feel inside of her.

"I want you to fuck me." She moaned, pulling him from her mouth and lifting her eyes into his hooded ones that watched her every move. In turn, she slid her hand along the slick flesh, running her tongue along the nerve, kissing the tip, pleading him with her eyes. They stood simultaneously, reaching for the other with wanting hands and starving lips until nothing, no air or light could come between them. She thought she'd been wrung out to dry after his mouth, but that dull wet ache was back with some insatiable vengeance that clouded all possible reason with his skin warm and flush against her own. "I want you."

She found herself back on the vanity, pulling him between her thighs with nails digging into his back. There was no hesitation from either side as she reached between them to guide him to her entrance, letting him press into her tentatively, slowly, with harsh breaths as her body stretched to accommodate him. The breath left her body as he began to move, his fingers digging into her hips while he did as she asked and began fucking her without much mercy. She leaned back on her hands the best she could, gripping the sides of the small vanity that crashed noisily into the wall with his every hard thrust.

She'd never been a vocal lover but every time his cock ripped through the tight heat of her she marked his back with red trails from her nails and moaned her heavy sighs loudly, it felt like she was coming, and couldn't stop. Rough as he was, he still kissed her in measured moments, cursed, and while she gathered he wasn't much of a vocal man himself, she found herself relishing her own name on this stranger's lips.

Khai lifted her again, pushing the chair out of his way carelessly, knocking God only knows what else over before he paused to fuck her against one of the walls en route to the bed, forcing her thighs around him tighter, his fingers biting into her thighs and ass as he plunged into her roughly, and they almost fell onto another table, knocking over the vase that adorned it. Mina had to laugh against his lips a little at their clumsiness, and even Khai smiled tentatively before cursing and finally fell with her into one of the softest beds she'd ever felt.

"You feel so good," He groaned into her neck, holding her wrists down and cursing when she lifted her thighs higher on his waist to pull him in deeper. She nearly screamed as Khai ground his hips into her, so deep that it hurt, but he had an inch for every erogenous area of her body, plus some, and he used each one until her language became reduced to his name and urging pleas for more.

"Let me ride you." Like she gave him much choice the way her hips bucked, and she pushed him on his back by his shoulders. She rode him hard but knew she couldn't last long this way, she never could, and judging by the roll of his eyes as he flexed his hips into her with matching strokes he wouldn't either. Khai's fingers shook as they bit into her hips, and Mina meant to urge them to her breasts, but he sat up instead to pull her against his sweat-slicked skin so he could suck the peddled pink tips into his mouth.

"Don't stop." He growled, only quickening his thrusts from beneath her, filling her over and over until she couldn't possibly feel more complete.

"I don't want it to end." She gasped, kissing him softer than before, without teeth, only caressing tongues as she forced him to slow down with more languid movements of her hips. Her fingers listed through his hair as she moved with him, relishing every inch of him with longer deeper strokes.

"I can't last much more." He chuckled and kissed her chest and Mina moved a little faster. "Hey, we didn't-"

"It's okay." She whispered, kissing him with a moan and an assuring smile as she rolled her hips, watching his cool grey eyes roll with the sensation. His hands, large and needy pulled her more forcefully onto his pike hard cock, forcing her need to erupt from her lips and she felt her body tense with pending release as he repeated the motion until she moved with him.

Fast, and hard, and deep was the pace he set, moving with ease from the slickness of their skin, mouth gaped and needy. Something about the way his fingers bit into her ass, the strength in his arms pushing and pulling them while she tried to keep up, her moans echoing through the open room until it was her begging him not to stop, to give her more, and to give it to her harder.

She came with her whole body, shaking, pulsing hard around his invading cock, letting him lay her back against the mattress to keep fucking her while she fell apart, nails biting into his back with each wave of mind-numbing pleasure that ripped through her. She cried out, holding onto him for dear life the few more moments he lasted while she tried to come down, a nearly impossible thing, a dangerous thing that she might crave his body this way.

She'd never heard anything more erotic than the growls he tried to stifle through gritted teeth, his desperate moans he breathed into her neck as he cursed, and his hips stuttered after a few moments, taken into the throes of a harsh release. Mina thought he might rip the sheets the way he gripped them with white knuckles, and just when she thought she couldn't be any more full of him, he filled her more.

It took him a few moments to gain any clarity, for breath to come easy, or he was just that content to let her lazily list her fingers through his hair, stroke the fine muscles of his back while Khai came to his senses. He wasted no time in pulling her against him when he finally rolled onto his back, removing his softening flesh from her, gathering Mina to his chest with a sated sort of sigh.

"This place is trashed." He chuckled, appraising the broken glass, and toppled furniture, clothing strewn carelessly all over the place. Mina lifted her head to assess the damage, and joined him in a good laugh, burying her face in his neck. Her face fell, knowing all too well the unique nature of their meeting, but she kissed the skin anyways and sat back up to meet his stony gaze.

"Mind if I use the shower before I go?" She hadn't meant to sound so timid, but she watched those beautiful storm clouds for eyes shift almost in surprise. Like she hadn't gazed into them her fare share that night she couldn't be sure why her heart rate skyrocketed the way it did.

"Oh, um. Sure. Just let me at least clean the glass so you don't hurt yourself. We turned this room into a warzone." His lip quirked unconvincingly, the moment growing awkward enough that he covered himself with one of the sheets when he got up to dress. Mina just fell back against the pillows, blowing through her lips miserably a moment, unsure what else she expected. She bombarded his dinner table and practically lit up a neon sign as an invitation.

She noticed on her way to the bathroom a few suitcases and things, suggesting he'd told the truth about staying there as aside from the mess the room was gently lived in. The shower was to die for, and she shamelessly took her time, using his soaps, and telling herself she'd take his scent home as a trophy because she really didn't want the night to end. But she knew how these one night deals went, and she could only assume these busy businessmen types were even more antsy to get rid of their nightly catch.

A vacuum whirred outside the door, no doubt borrowed from housekeeping, grew louder as she stepped back into the room and carefully began searching for her discarded dress. In a drastically different look, he wore some sneakers and dark sweatpants, paired some plain t-shirt that would have made Calvin Klein drool, clearly settling in for the night. Mina clutched the towel to her chest and padded carefully toward him, but Khai turned off the vacuum and held up his hand to stop her, so she paused. He bent to pick up her dress for her, raking a hand through the length of his hair when he stood upright and extended the garment to her, but when she went to take it from his hand he wouldn't let it go.

"I'm an idiot for thinking something happened tonight, aren't I?"

"What?" She blinked, wide-eyed and confused because he looked so serious, and still wouldn't let go of her dress.

"Nothing." He paused a moment before he let go and turned to go back to his vacuum. Mina bit her lip and stepped forward.

"Hey, can I ask you a real question?"

Khai paused, hand on the vacuum ready to turn it on. The way he lifted his brow at her made her nervous, she couldn't read the rest of his face. But she braved potential broken glass, came up on her toes, and pressed her lips to his. It was soft, deep, and almost tender but full of the same passion she felt the moment she met his eyes in that restaurant.

"What's your question?" He breathed back, brushing the wet fringe from her eyes which she rolled and shifted impatiently on her bare feet, still clutching the towel to her chest.

"What do you think happened tonight?"

Clearly he mulled the question in his mind a moment. "A lot of firsts. A lot of risky, and amazing firsts."

"Okay. Well, can I ask you for something?" His brows furrowed, and he looked down at her warily, almost like she was sprouting another head.

"Sure." This time she grabbed his hand and pulled him back toward the bed. Furniture and clothes still sprawled in chaos around them but he'd cleaned most of the glass, and if all went well, she might ask him to let her help him clean the rest in the morning. Khai went reluctantly, sitting on the bed while Mina crawled in to sit on her knees beside him. "What is it?"

"What's your last name?"

"Zoltan?" He replied, adorably confused. She giggled and ran her fingers along his palm, he shivered and she took it as a good sign.

"My proper Japanese name is Aino Minako… but I grew up in London as Mina, and people call me that anyways but… at least you'll know how to find me. You know, a familiar face being that you're new here and all."

Khai's lips quirked, tension releasing from his shoulders, and his fingers curled and laced with her own. "Can I ask you something Mina? A few things actually."

"Of course!"

"Would you want to borrow a shirt to sleep in? Maybe lay in bed and stare at this beautiful view of the city with me and have the most mundane conversation on the planet? I know we weren't going to, but I'm dying to bore you with details about this job I'm married to. Though, I may have to kill you, working for the mob and all." Khai deadpanned, but his brow twitched before he betrayed his own humor by smiling.

"I thought you'd never ask! Though you underestimate my friends and I, we could so take you out!" Mina poked his chest, and when he laughed it was like a light turned on. It was infectious and though he clearly didn't do it often, the appearance of that no doubt rarely seen dimple was devastating and she hoped she'd have time to make him laugh a lot more.

"I work in finance actually, I run multiple firms so no, no Mob." His fingers brushed her still damp bangs from her eyes again, his own eyes almost clear with the lightness of them. "Just good old boring finance. You'll have to tell me about your friends so I don't bore us both to death."

"Well, I'm hardly boring…"

"I don't doubt that for a second." His smile broadened only briefly, lowering his eyes to their joined fingers as though he wanted to say something.

"Was there something else you wanted to ask?"

"Is the night still too young for love?"

Mina's face flared red she was certain, her stomach flipped on itself and Gods she wanted to say yes because as always Khai sounded so serious. Instead, she very forcefully pulled his shirt off over his head. He let her of course, both laughing at the silly antics, but she pulled it over her head and pulled him in for a kiss.

"The night's never too young, but how about you bore me and I'll let you know over pancakes in the morning?"

"If you make it through the boring stuff and still want pancakes with me in the morning, I'll even throw in some strawberries."

"Whipped cream and chocolate sauce, and you have a deal."

They shook on it, kissed on it, and as the Sun rose over Tokyo's skyline they slept on it with the promise of more mundane details of potential love and pancakes when they woke up.


	2. Out of Season

A sleepy smile tugged at the corners of her lips, feeling the pads of warm fingertips softly tracing the curve of her hip beneath the soft cotton of the t-shirt she'd borrowed. Mina didn't need to open her eyes to know the source of the touch, it sent butterflies fluttering through her stomach and caused her mind to race with the memories of a very hot, very unexpected blind date.

She did briefly wonder if the morning would be awkward. If the charms of strawberries and champagne were limited to toe-curling sex, promises of pancakes and mundane conversation that ended up lasting until the very wee hours of the morning. Even still, that was only a few hours ago and while it might have seemed that his talk of investments and financials had literally put her to sleep, she'd claim all day that it was the deep, very soothing sound of his very lightly accented voice, the feeling of his fingers softly tracing up and down her arm while they spoke.

Mina didn't remember falling asleep, and while she claimed these first date conversations were so boring and routine, she found herself completely captivated by Khai. True, she had to pry at him a little to get him to talk, and as he warned her, most of what she could pull out of him was about his job, but it was so worth every moment. He was one of those quiet, serious men who only spoke when he had something worthwhile or meaningful to say, but everything she learned as she drifted off to sleep nestled against his shoulder was pure and raw intimacy.

Aside from all of the boring occupational details and financial jargon, she learned that Khai was a soulful person with an eclectic taste in music, a health nut with a half decent upbringing, and a good education. He managed to make even the most mundane conversation about his lack of hobbies and how he enjoyed spicy food romantic with the softly lit backdrop of the city beyond the tall windows that nearly walled in the hotel room, stealing touches and whispered words where he could. They were little things that Mina could read the way he could read a financial spread, things she understood where pretty much everything else about Khai Zoltan was mysterious to her. His stoicism and his hesitation to speak were all so calculated, and in hindsight, even as a lover he was nothing if not meticulous.

Mina learned a little about his family, what little he had left which consisted of his sweet and doting mother and step-father who he didn't care for much, but his real father had died when he was young and left him with a financial empire to run. She gathered he hadn't had much of a choice, but Khai mentioned a few friends he met during his time at Harvard University that had made the decision to move to Tokyo easier; despite the huge, but very busted business deal that fell through that very night.

Apparently, he'd been waiting for the appointment, and they didn't show, so Khai claimed that it wasn't a complete loss when she barged over to his table and invited herself to dinner. But even the way he talked about his family and friends was vague and nearly clinical, unlike anything she'd experienced with him personally but he seemed to be content to keep her at arm's length when it came to his personal life. Fair, since this wasn't anything official, but their chemistry was undeniable in her book, ignited with that first meeting of eyes back at the restaurant, turning to full-on combustion rapidly over just a few hours.

"Morning." He whispered huskily, answering it all for her, making the previous night real as the mattress shifted when he moved closer. His hand rested on her bare hip squeezing the flesh lightly and Mina felt the warmth of his strong chest against her back. Finally, her eyes opened very briefly to a still darkened room, the roughness of his voice thick with a lack of sleep. "I didn't think rambling about my job would actually put you to sleep."

Her eyes closed again and she smiled, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth before she pouted, and playfully turned to peek at him over her shoulder. "While your accomplishments in America and Dubai are impressive, I think I'll stick to dreams of touring those places and leave the financial well-being part to you. You know, for being a stiff suit, you're brave for waking me up so early."

Her heart might have skipped when she met his pale grey eyes, his long hair messy in shades of silver draped and fell with beautiful contrast over his tanned skin and white pillows. His lips quirked as though he could see right through her, wrapping his strong arms around her midsection to pull her tight against his chest. "A risk I'm willing to take. I figured you might forgive me since if I remember correctly, I owe you pancakes."

"Mmm, yes. And more boredom please." Mina turned to face him better, having the nerve to look coy when she ran her hands along the smooth muscle of his chest. "I promise I won't fall asleep this time, but I think you told me the really boring stuff on purpose so I wouldn't go." She ran a finger down the proud bridge of his nose, his soft lips, and the slight jut of his chin. "Not that I could escape if I wanted to with all of that glass we broke."

"Guilty." He grinned and brushed some of her own messy hair from her face, trailing his fingers along her jawline so his eyes and his thumb could trace her pouty bottom lip. "Or I would be, except I cleaned the glass by the door last night. I think you just didn't want to leave."

"Innocent until proven guilty." Mina kissed the pad of his thumb, causing his eyes to flicker back up into hers with that same very memorable heat. He chuckled at this and pulled her closer, large hands slipping beneath her borrowed shirt to do so with an only moderately respectful touch.

"I only need one night to know that you are hardly innocent."

"Fine, guilty.." She breathed, unconcerned with morning breath or much more than his lips and explorative hands as he drew nearer with a smirk she could only describe as deviant. Mina turned her head to the side, avoiding his kiss with a playful giggle that turned into an ardent moan when he began to trail kisses intended for her lips down her neck. "Khai…"

"Tell me about yourself." He paused to whisper into her ear, causing the lightest of gasps to escape her when he nipped the lobe between his teeth. "I want to know every mundane detail."

"Mmm, you're making it very hard for me to focus." Mina tilted her head further and found her fingers tangled in his hair, only encouraging his distracting behavior when he sucked lightly at her pulse, humming at her approving gasp. Khai paused only long enough to kiss her, his forehead met hers and he peered down at her with something mischievous playing with his otherwise serious expression.

"I'll try and make it easier then. You said last night that your birthday is next week. What day?"

She blinked, forgetting she'd mentioned anything, and gazed up at him in shock that he'd remember such a small thing. He pulled the blankets over them, and Mina found herself pressed flush against his chest and wrapped in his arms under the plush down comforter. She traced the rough line of his jaw and his lips with the pads of her fingertips, gazing into his eyes. "The twenty-second. I want to plan something special since I also just so happen to be turning twenty-two."

Khai was older, not offensively so by her standards, but he eluded the previous night that his family, as well as a few people in the press often made comments about his George Clooney-Esque bachelor lifestyle. It was no shock to Mina that a gorgeous man like this would leave a path of heartbroken women wherever he went, hoping she wouldn't fall prey to such a fate. Not that she was a saint herself, but the way they lay there, his fingers so methodically trailing up and down her spine while they spoke so intimately made it hard for a girl like her to keep her feelings in check. Something he made harder when he smiled the way he did.

"Anything specific in mind?" Khai thought he was slick, pulling the dark fabric of the shirt she wore up higher on her torso until she decided to play his little game of seduction and shifted to pull it over her head, tossing it to the floor where the rest of their garments from the previous night lay strewn in various unknown places. Mina laughed triumphantly in her throat some at the hunger in his pale grey eyes as they drank her in, his pupils expanding in the dim light.

"No idea yet. Why? Plan on crashing?"

Khai's lips quirked as she nestled back into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and enjoying the feeling of his skin against her own, breasts pressing firmly into his chest. "Wouldn't bother you to have an old man at your birthday celebration? I'll tell you I'm not a big attendee of many parties."

She gently raked her nails over the smooth firm skin, soothing lingering raised scratches on his back from the previous night with her fingertips while her admiring gaze roved over the carved features of his face, and fixed on the beautiful heather grey of his eyes to solidify her sincerity when she shook her head. "Not even a little."

Khai chuckled a little in his throat in turn, about as close to a real laugh as she'd heard from him so far. "Thirty isn't old. But even you mentioned something last-"

Mina interrupted him with her lips, relishing the vibration of his small hum against her teeth. She smiled into the kiss and parted, pressing her finger against Khai's lips to hush him. His eyes stayed shut a moment before looking back at her. Briefly, she watched his brows tense and the way he looked at her like she was something precious stole her breath. "I told you, I don't mind. You were honest about being a work-a-holic with high standards, you don't owe me any explanations."

"I suppose I should be curious as to why you don't have a boyfriend. You have to know how utterly charming you are."

She smiled and pulled him closer to savor the spice of his soap lingering on the skin of his neck, his hair soft against her cheek when she kissed his bobbing Adam's apple. "A girl can't be too careful when she's playing for keeps, I'm looking for something real. Some guys aren't into that, which is why I was so surprised when you asked me to stay. You didn't seem like the type."

"It seemed right, there's something about you...It's refreshing." He moved in to kiss her, forcing Mina on her back to nestle between her legs, tongue brushing her lips when he spoke against them, "and as I said, I want to know everything."

"Well," She began to slowly run her hands down the curve of his back, fingers slipping under the elastic of his sweatpants to cup and grip into the fleshy muscle of his buttcheeks, causing his hips to stutter forward into hers. Mina smirked into a searing kiss and urged his hips into hers with her fingers again, relishing his firm body, and the sharp inhale of breath through his parted lips. "I _hate _shiitake mushrooms…"

"Go on.." He breathed, lips pressed against the corner of her lips and slowly trailing down her jaw toward her earlobe. "You said you wanted to tour America and Dubai… tour as what?"

"I wanted to be an idol when I was younger." She bit her lip at the feel of his teeth nicking the skin below her earlobe, fighting her natural instinct to moan. "I guess I still do."

His tongue grazed her thundering pulse, and this time it tore the sound from her throat. Mina sank her head back further against the pillows, arching her neck to allow him better access, sifting her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck to further encourage him.

"More." He demanded, setting goosebumps over every inch of her flesh, sucking her rampant heartbeat into his mouth until she was certain he'd mark her.

"I- I'm part of a volleyball league, and I take dance as a hobby." Mina's eyes widened when he had the grace to look up and smirk, filling his hand with her breast just to toy with the pebbled pink tip.

"That explains a few things."

"I haven't shown you anything yet." She promised, watching his eyes darken at least two shades of gunmetal. She whimpered when his hot tongue ran circles around her nipple, devouring the delicacy of her breast. Mina couldn't breathe, and he growled low in his throat when her fingers tightened in his hair and she pulled his lips back to hers for a reprieve of his sinful mouth before she could manage to speak again. "You always wake up this early?"

"This is normally the only time I have to myself." Khai breathed harshly through his lips when Mina pressed herself against his hardening cock through his sweatpants, biting her bottom lip between her teeth from the sensation of his flesh so hard but soft between them. "More boring stuff though, I usually get coffee, keep up on financial news, work out, occasionally read.."

"Sorry to distract you from your routine." She smirked and playfully lapped her tongue over his lips, placing a light kiss at the tip of his nose.

"I think I much prefer this sort of distraction."

Mina locked her eyes with his, slipping her fingers into the elastic of his sweatpants to slip them down off of his hips. His cock, hard and full, fell against her stomach and she smirked up at him as she rolled her hips against the rigid length to pull that sexy low growl from his throat. "I think I can do better."

"It seems so." She flexed her hips up into his, her breath panting against his chin when her already slick flesh met the heavy girth of him. Mina would claim that it was his fault, from the moment he touched her that morning, the way his voice was graveled from lack of sleep, and he held her in his arms, she wanted him. How his hair felt like silk in her fingers and his lips moved across her skin, all she could think about was how ravenous she'd made him the previous night.

Shifting his hips, Khai fisted the sheets and pressed himself inside of her, not slowly, but carefully, and her throaty moan echoed against the walls, drowning his growled curse with her ecstasy. Mina thought she might wake the neighboring room when she cried out with the first rough, deep thrust of his hips. She stifled the sound by running her tongue across his teeth, probing his parted lips to drink his pleading whimper.

The sturdy hotel bed began to knock against the wall, no errand to their movements other than the end, a desperate and needy act that pulled such noise from her lips as he took an angle that rubbed his pubic bone firmly into her clit each time his cock ripped through her causing her walls to constrict and jump around him. She met his eyes, arching into his every movement that jerked her breasts against his chest, and dared him to go harder.

"God you feel so fucking good." He growled against her neck, and she could feel his hand shaking as it gripped the sheets beside her. There was someone yelling in the room next to them, but he only thrust harder, and the bed only seemed to knock more forcefully into the wall.

It wasn't meant to last long, it wasn't intimate or romantic and it ended as quickly as it began. Mina didn't last long the way his body rubbed at her core, his thick length filling her and stroking her body like no one's ever had. It came on like an eruption, legs trembling, body convulsing around his relentless cock, her vision fading as the pleasure shot through her limbs like wildfire. It might have been her mindless clawing at his back with her nails, or the incoherent cursing that spilled from her lips, her body massaging and throbbing around his length that sent him reeling. He growled loudly, and she could feel his hips stutter, and his cock throb as he spilled into her, overflowing her body with his warm release.

Khai collapsed beside her, both sweat sheened and breathlessly left staring at the ceiling while their neighbors calmed their yelling and pounding against the shared wall. It was Mina to burst into a fit of giggles, rolling to bury her face into his chest to muffle the noise. "What's so funny?"

She peeked an amused blue eye up at him through her mussed bangs, pressing a kiss to his shoulder as she fell back against the pillows. "Nothing. I just didn't take you for a man to get carried away with anything is all. Don't worry, I'm definitely not complaining."

"That makes two of us." He breathed hard through his lips, eyeing Mina when she yawned. "On both accounts." Khai chuckled once in his throat, lips quirking in mild amusement. "I don't think Hotel Century will ever let me book a room here again."

"Not if your neighbors have anything to say about it."

"Or housekeeping." He raised a brow and shot her a teasing glare that made her roll her eyes.

"So, as we were saying before I so rudely interrupted," She shifted in an attempt to stay awake, resting her chin on his arm to peer up at Khai with a playful grin. "what do you read this early in the morning? My friend Ami says you can tell a lot about someone from their book collection."

"Mostly the newspaper." The corner of his lips lifted when Mina eyed him warily, turning on her side to sift her fingers through his hair, loose against his chest. "Bookwise 'The Art of War' is my favorite."

"Never heard of it." She admitted with a nonchalant shrug, hooking her leg over his hip to press more firmly against his skin. "Not that I've ever been much of a reader to begin with but I guess I'm intrigued… if it interests you."

"It's helped me through a lot in my life. I'd say it's a good way to get to know me better. In fact, it's even relevant right now, with you and me." The way he said it, boring his eyes into hers with such intimate proximity turned her insides to lava. Her blue eyes danced among his grey and with the lightest of touches she pressed against his shoulder and brushed some of his silvery strands from his tanned complexion to see his face better.

"Tell me."

"_Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate._" Mina felt an imperceptible chill over her skin at his whispered words with breathed against her skin without the sensation of his lips touching her, his voice so deep, kissed by an exotic accent. "I'll let you draw your own conclusions."

"Hmm… I suspect you were almost predictable up until the moment you followed me out of the restaurant. Everything after that was pretty obvious until you asked me to stay."

"I expected none of what happened." Her eyes fluttered closed when his fingers brushed her cheek, tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear. It kept her a bit leery of him still, the way she'd see his eyes flicker over to the clock on the bed stand, a man to always be cognizant of his time and Mina had to wonder if a man like this ever truly had time for anyone. But he was also so attentive to her when those pale grey eyes flickered back to hers and fell pointedly on her lips. "I didn't expect you. So it was a first for me too."

"Happy to oblige." Mina shifted closer, doing him the favor of softly pressing her lips against his. It was odd to her that he was still so hesitant to do so since within hours of meeting they'd already engaged in the most intimate of activities with the most climactic end to a blind date she'd ever had.

Khai watched her sit up, studying her with that cool demeanor of his that made her feel all the more naked under his watchful gaze. Truly she didn't want to get up because the sheets were soft, she was exhausted, and his skin was so warm she could have stayed wrapped up in him all day. His fingers combed through her hair, brushing down her back with a light touch, grabbing her attention.

There was a tension in his eyes, and Khai looked like he wanted to say something, but withdrew his hand from her back and sat up to lean against the headboard. "Sorry, I'm not good at this."

"I'd say you're almost too good at this." Mina returned with a sympathetic smile, taking a moment to appreciate how he looked like one of those perfume ad models with his chiseled facial features and carved body, scarcely covered by a thin sheet. His silver hair was mussed and against his darker skin and pale grey eyes that made his stoic demeanor appear so exotic, shrouded in the shadows of the early morning. It made the reality that this was a one-night thing so sad because there was a lot of history that happened between them in the expanse of mere hours. "I'm gonna go get cleaned up."

"Sure." He smiled, and it was so beautiful to her the way the pink light of the sunrise highlighted his features. "I'll grab a shower after, if you don't mind waiting for me that is."

"Of course." Mina stood, watching him avert his eyes and decided it was worth making a spectacle of herself to see this shyness in him in the aftermath that seemed so misplaced from his usual sturdy calm. Not that she wasn't fully aware of his eyes shifting back to her, magnetically trailing her movements with blatant appreciation as she sauntered toward the bathroom, putting some extra sway into her hips while the product of their morning session trickled slowly down her thigh.

Refraining from inviting him to join her, Mina kept her shower brief since it was a Saturday and it was likely she'd collapse back in bed the moment she made it home with the intent to sleep through a good deal of the afternoon. She hadn't checked her phone, though it was likely her friend from the agency was curious about the blind date. Or she was mad at her considering Mina ghosted the guy she set her up with. She nodded resolutely at her reflection while she scrubbed at her teeth with nothing but a bit of paste and her finger. Surely she could be forgiven when she explained that there was no way she could have passed this up, and as she wrapped herself in a towel and reentered the room, Mina realized she really didn't care how angry her friend would be.

Khai had pulled his sweatpants back on and continued tidying the room a little because there was still a little left of the dishevelment left from their destructive passion of the night before. She'd long convinced herself that men like this didn't exist, long limbed, muscled, and though the vanity of her appraisal knew no bounds, once again she was convinced that his ethereal appearance was too good to be true. He paused, confirming this more as softness tugging at his lips and eyes in his slow approach from across the suite.

"I'll be out in a minute." He took her chin between his fingers and thumb, pressing a lingering kiss to her lips, gazing at her in a way that made her feel more exposed than she was. Mina offered an understanding smile, letting him brush passed her so he could take his turn in the shower. The sky was pink, the Sun barely peeking between the tall buildings of Tokyo's skyline when she exhaled deeply and stepped toward one of the wall-length windows to observe the bustling streets below and how tiny they all looked.

Stepping back into her dress from the night before was almost strange, like stepping into an old life of being beautiful and jaded from a lot of bad dates, and a life without much of a path to it other than finding herself at the dinner table of some beautiful stranger. But she zipped up the back and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Hardly the glamorous woman she was the night prior, barefaced with wet hair and a hickey on her neck like she was still in high school. It made her laugh as she stepped into her heels and plopped unceremoniously on the bed.

There was a very worn out book on the nightstand. The paperback cover had been ripped off entirely and the pages were yellowed and folded. Mina reached for it, and as expected the exposed title page read 'The Art of War.' She flipped through a few pages, finding nothing but what looked like proverbs and war tactics and she scrunched her face, not quite sure how something like this would allow her to get to know him better. Regardless she found herself reading a few pages, yawning, and wondering what the hell half of it meant.

"You're welcome to borrow that if you want." Jumping, she set the book down on the mattress and turned to look at him over her shoulder. He'd already pulled on some business slacks and was rummaging through a hanging rack of collared shirts and various ties.

Mina lifted the book, and her brows, and read a proverb from one of the pages in the most proper voice she could mock. "Thus the skillful general conducts his army as though he were leading a single man, willy-nilly, by the hand"

This made Khai chuckle as he draped a matching navy blue suit jacket over the back of a chair in the sitting area, selecting a pressed white shirt to go with it. Mina noted how his hand hovered by an assortment of ties, opting hesitantly for a striped blue one. Placing the book back where she found it, she shifted to face him, finding watching him get dressed far more interesting. He eyed her knowingly while he buttoned up his shirt. "It's literally nothing but advice and strategy for war, though you might be surprised. You might even enjoy it."

"Oh, that's okay. Like I said, I'm not much of a reader." For some reason she wanted to borrow it, but something prevented her from agreeing so she merely folded her hands in her lap nervously and forced a teasing smile. "We're just going for pancakes. It's Saturday, don't you own any jeans?"

"Workaholic." He reminded her while he dressed distractedly. "I'll probably catch the train over to the office for a bit this morning."

"I see." Her fingers tensed on themselves, sensing this was unraveling when Khai was suddenly beside her, lifting her chin to make her look at him. His grey eyes were warm, and while he was immaculately dressed and gorgeous, his hair was tousled and still wet.

"I promised you pancakes, and strawberries…"

"And chocolate sauce with whipped cream." She quipped, unable to keep the smile from her face when he nodded toward the door.

"I don't know where you put all that and I don't care. A promise is a promise."

"You can't be serious." She judged. She judged hard at his cheeseless veggie egg white omelet and avocado from over her mountain of mouthwatering goodness.

"I'm very serious."

"All the time. Yes, we established this." She raised her brow and wagged a dripping, chocolately, syrupy bite of strawberry and pancake at him before popping it into her mouth with as much grace as she could muster while she continued to berate him over a full mouth. "Probably low blood sugar."

"That's going to kill you someday." He judged her right back with his flat tone and dry expression, but Mina shoved a bite toward him in offering.

"Just try one bite. For me?" She fluttered her lashes at him and pouted her lip, watching the amusement flicker across his features while he mocked her by taking a bite of tomato and egg. "I did promise you more boring talk."

Khai rolled his eyes and leaned forward for the sugary bite, immediately reaching for some water while he chewed. "That is death by sugar…"

"There are strawberries in it, it can't be all bad…" She pouted and forked a chocolate-covered berry into her mouth to prove her point. He smiled, and Mina decided it was worth it the way the morning light hit his eyes and his cheek dimpled from the motion.

"Okay, so I know you hate shiitake mushrooms, you're a secretary at a fashion studio, and you do some social media modeling on the side, you have a group of friends scary enough to tear down the Yakuza, and you came from London. I know we avoided the subject of parents while we…"

"Parent talk is definitely a mood ruiner during sex." Khai shot her a scandaled look but Mina only shrugged. "Okay, so it's just a mood ruiner. What? Don't look at me like that."

"Tell me about London." His grey eyes became scolding, and he rolled them once, freezing her in place when his hand fell across the table to rest on top of hers. "I talked you to sleep last night. It's your turn."

"Yeah, and you've barely said a word since we left." Khai swallowed and withdrew his hand to take a drink of his coffee.

"I'm not much of a talker." Mina's disbelieving look caused him to pause before he brought the cup to his lips. He'd spoken plenty the previous night, but not without her prodding him. "Normally."

"Fine then." She huffed playfully and took an overly dramatic bite of her pancakes, pleased when it seemed to ease the tension on his brow, and his lips just barely quirked in amusement of her antics which he strategically hid behind another drink of his bitter black coffee.

"Mom's a native London gal, a real looker of course, and also the world's most stereotypical tragedy. Met a hot guy in Greece, got pregnant, got married, and settled down with a family instead of pursuing her dreams." She trailed off, shoving an extra chocolately sweet bite to wash down the bitterness that came with talking about her mother.

"Sounds like a movie."

"Yeah, she wishes. It's no wonder I always wanted to be an idol. She started putting me through pageants and competitions since I was in diapers. You know, I was in a few really cringy commercials when I was a kid."

"Oh really."

Mina hummed her confirmation over a full mouth, nodding and gesturing all the while. "Remind me later and I'll show you some of them on YouTube." Meanwhile, Khai calmly sipped his coffee and watched her in a manner reminiscent of the night before without the dim lighting and elegant decor to provide the air of romance. Not that the little diner was romantic by any means. "Yes, my mother so selfishly stole my opportunity for a publicized scandal by putting me in a diaper commercial when I was a baby. The world saw my ass before it was worth seeing."

She thought he was going to spit out his coffee for a second before she realized he was actually laughing. They'd spent the entire night together and it was the first time she'd seen him smile wide with his teeth, the dimple in his cheek deeper with the expression that made his grey eyes sparkle. "I'd say she was just putting you ahead of the curve. Get the scandal out of your system while you're young."

"Did you just tell a joke?!"

"Maybe." His lips tensed to wipe the smile from them, further reigning in his face with another sip of his coffee. "What about your father?"

"This isn't a therapy session."

"Correct. I am not a therapist." He mused in that stoic way he had. She supposed it was his dry sense of humor that prevented her from finding it charming, but there was a reason she avoided these first date conversations that felt more like a mating ritual to ensure your breeding was up to snuff. She'd won the genetic lottery, of course. Her mother was a waifish blonde who gave Twiggy a run for her money back in the day and her father was some dark and mysterious Cassanova most women end up regretting spending more than just one night with. "I'm not trying to read you Mina, and I'm not here to judge. We can talk about something else."

Mina frowned and rolled her eyes when Khai raised his brows as a prompt to keep talking. She sighed and took a sip of her sugary vanilla iced coffee. He'd divulged plenty of his life the previous night, it was only fair. "Dad didn't hang around. He moved out when I was ten and went back to Greece. Apparently, he was popular with the ladies whether he was married or not, and wasn't a big fan of parading me around. A little hypocritical maybe, but we still talk occasionally." She shrugged and fell back against the booth. "Little did he know that I'd end up loving it."

"What do you love about it?"

Smiling at the change in subject, she stared at her plate while she stabbed violently at her food. "What's not to love? I get to be whoever I want to be, I get to create something. I mean, the attention is great and all but the energy, and the rush of it all!" She met his grey eyes with a relaxed smile. "I get to be anything I want."

"What's wrong with just being you?" Khai posed, brow twitching with interest over a bite of his omelet. Clearly he wasn't a man who had the spectacular imagination she did, of course, most people who work in finance just aren't wired that way. Boring as it seemed she wasn't surprised to find it refreshing. She spent her days among the eccentric and vain people in the creative realms of many professions and while she appreciated their unique and colorful candor it was sometimes a little overwhelming. Khai was steady, logical, grounded.

Mina bit her lip and smiled, eyes sparkling with minute excitement as she leaned forward on the table. "Absolutely nothing."

"So how did you end up in Tokyo?" Her answer seemed to charm him, yet she couldn't help but feel a little uneased when he checked his phone, brow tensing at whatever he was reading on the screen.

"I um. I moved out the day after I turned eighteen. There was an acting gig here in Tokyo for the role of a pretty blonde superhero, like those magical girls in comic books." Khai peered up from his phone at her like she was crazy, brow raised like he was waiting for her to elaborate. She rolled her eyes again, a little annoyed by his distraction while she confided how she'd found herself in Tokyo in pursuit of an acting career only to find herself a secretary at a modeling firm and barely functioning college student studying fashion design. "Anyways, clearly that didn't work out and I'd spent most of my savings to move here so I ended up kind of stuck for a while."

As it all poured out of her, it all sounded like the trials of a misguided and rebellious teenager, which was probably an accurate but tired trope that channels like Lifetime liked to overplay, including her rival-like relationship with her Mother. She was almost relieved that Khai didn't appear to be listening, but he was looking at her intensely when she finally managed to look up from her plate, leaning in with his elbows on the table paying attention to her every word. He was so put together and calm, it was about that very moment she realized what a mess her life was.

"That's very brave of you. I guess that was when you ended up in a dorm with your friend. The one who somehow managed to fall out of her bed and break three bones?"

Mina swallowed hard, surprised he remembered that story she told the previous night, let alone that he was listening at all. Usagi was a renowned clutz, the only person she knew who could find a way to be clumsy in her sleep and end up in the hospital. She did laugh in her throat at the memory and take a sip of her iced coffee, privately musing about how that was her introduction to Ami who was doing her residency at the hospital, and Makoto who brought Usagi baked goods to help her recover. "Yeah, that was my introduction to most of my insane, and wonderful, friends. Who, by the way, could still kick your ass. You said something similar happened to your best friend's girlfriend back at Harvard right?"

Khai chuckled and checked his phone again. "Yes. Apparently accidents like that are somewhat common? And I will do my best to watch my back, though as wonderful as your friends sound, if they came for me then it's likely I would have done something to deserve it." He charmingly smirked, winked, and took a long drink from a glass of ice water. "I'll have to keep the mob on standby." His eyes seemed to lighten with the quirk of his lips. "Tell me more."

With a deep breath, Mina began to ramble about how wasted she was in pursuit of a fashion degree because if she really wanted to do that then she would have stayed in London. Khai made it easy when he was focused, perhaps a little too much so because she began to talk about love, and the few brushes with the emotion she's had in her short life like an idiot. It was in her rules of first dates to never talk about exes, or the big L word in general let alone get philosophical about it. Did it count if this was technically date number two?

Halfway into her woeful tale of the only real boyfriend she'd ever had and his immense douchery, his phone buzzed on the table, and immediately his focus was broken. "Excuse me, I have to take this."

Mina deflated, watching him slide out of the booth across from her to take the call. It dawned on her how out of her element she was, how petty and immature she probably seemed to him after explaining the messy but colorful life of Aino Minako. She was out to breakfast with a gorgeous businessman in an immaculate suit before eight in the morning while she definitely looked like his catch of the night, rambling about love and life like she'd known the man forever when it hadn't even been twenty-four hours. What else did she expect?

Her hair was still drying and she wore no makeup, not that she felt like she needed it, but it all felt out of place with her otherwise sexy date wear and heels not to mention the glaring hickey on her neck. A courtesy memento from Khai's stupidly sexy, perfect, and sinfully skilled mouth. She inwardly groaned, and stabbed at a strawberry in irritation, noting that it had grown soggy.

Only moments later, Khai stepped back beside the booth with an unreadable expression, not bothering to sit back down. Mina could take a hint. "Duty calls?"

"I apologize, but I have to cut this short and head to the office. Can I get you a-"

"I can manage." She smiled half-heartedly, something akin to fear making itself known in her stomach when he pulled some bills from his wallet and left them on the table. Mina slipped from the booth herself, suddenly self-conscious about the wrinkled state of her dress and the tangles making themselves known in her long hair. Here she'd spent half the morning rambling about herself and dull details about her own life and Khai seemed like he was ready to run.

She managed pleasantries to the waitress on the way out, following otherwise quietly behind him toward the now very busy, bright streets of Tokyo. Mina nearly ran straight into his back when he stopped abruptly just outside, and turned on his heel to face her with revelation in his eyes. "Listen, I-"

"I had a great time Khai." She beamed, tilting her head just slightly to peer into his irritatingly beautiful features. "Thank you for last night…" She had the nerve to flush, but certainly not the shame to look away, "And this morning. I-"

Khai pulled her into a lingering kiss, the kind that knocked her straight off of her feet. It was far different this morning from the fevered tension of the night, it was sweet. His eyes stayed closed a moment before he could look at her, his forehead resting against hers, her cheek nestled into his palm. "I'd like to see you again."

"I don't know buster, you're one for two when it comes to dates." Mina winked, wrapping her fingers around his wrist as his thumb stroked her cheek. She hoped he couldn't see how her fingers trembled, how off guard she was from his sudden intensity, and how hopeful she was that he was telling her the truth. The prospect of seeing him again sent the butterflies already rampant in her stomach into a frenzy. "I hope I didn't bore you too much."

Khai smailed again, that addicting one with his teeth and dimple that made the sun appear dim. "Mina, I don't think you could be boring if you tried. If anything I was the one boring you." She bit her bottom lip, gazing up at him through her lashes, trying to memorize every shade of grey in his eyes. "So next week, your birthday..."

"Well," She began, stepping away as flirtatiously as she could manage given the wreck she was, "boring date number three is on you, and you'd better make it fun if it's for my birthday."

His lips quirked a little when Mina ran into someone on the sidewalk in her poor attempt to look cool walking backward in her departure. "That's a contradiction, don't you think?"

"Says the guy going to work on a Saturday." She giggled when he rolled his eyes in defeat, shoving his hands into his pockets. "That seems to work for us." She called out, blowing a kiss before she spun on her heel a bit more gracefully and walked away with her heart pounding in her chest.

She was too tired, too ready to fall into her bed and dream of him to remember that she never did give him her number, or get his.

* * *

"I look forward to doing business with you Mr. Amano, and congratulations again on the baby girl."

"Thank you. You're a man of little time Mr. Zoltan, I appreciate your flexibility on the matter."

"Of course." Khai bowed at the webcam out of respect. "I will have the final terms and agreements over to you shortly to review and sign at your convenience." With that, he closed out the video conference, raking a hand down his face as he fell back against his fine leather office chair with an exasperated- "Fuck…"

For a moment he simply stared at the ceiling and absorbed the peaceful silence around him in reflection. Mr. Amano was the business prospect that left him high and dry at dinner the night before, a no-show to the appointment on account that his wife had gone into labor. Khai couldn't even be mad at the alibi when the middle-aged man popped up on the video chat holding his pink bundle of joy to proudly introduce him to his new daughter. Hell, he almost thanked the man because had Mr. Amano actually shown up for the meeting he never would have met Mina.

Khai had the final documents ready to go because of course he did, this was a huge deal and he was him so yeah, he was prepared. The documents were sent with the click of a button and he groaned tiredly, leaning forward on the desk with his fingers buried in his hair with the realization that he had no means of contacting her. That he literally ran out on the best night, the best morning he could recall ever having, only to spend ten minutes on the phone with a middle-aged, balding man and his newborn daughter, who he strongly resembled, for a business deal he could have easily booked on Monday. To add insult to injury, a pinging sound on his computer sounded to alert him that the documents had come back completed.

The deal was sealed and he had nothing to show for it but a bigger bottom line except he was wondering if maybe getting that gorgeous girl's number wouldn't have been more important. Khai groaned again, and immediately opened a web browser.

The thought of social media was abhorrent to him, but everyone had a Facebook now right? He could just create a profile long enough to reach out, and then delete it once he could solidify plans for her birthday and get her damn number. So after a few minutes, he was scrolling through names under 'Aino Minako,' his frown deepening with each wrong profile picture he passed, sure that someone like her might have a strong following being beautiful as she was, and an Instagram model to boot. So he growled to himself, and pulled up that cursed website in another tab and set up yet another profile he'd never use.

It was getting dark by the time he'd filled his web browser with her name and once again, had nothing to show for it. Khai was hungry, tired, defeated, and offended on many levels by the intrusive ads on these sites alone when he slammed his laptop shut and began gathering his things. His head spinning with about a hundred faces when he could clearly only see hers in his mind without ever finding it. Figures that she was intelligent enough to use a code name to protect her identity when she was modeling certain brands and sharing her beauty with the world online.

So he got into another cab alone, returning to his empty hotel room where remnants of the previous night made themselves subtly known with the broken lamp on the vanity where he fucked her, one of her pearl earrings discovered by housekeeping left on the surface. Khai frowned and plopped on the bed by the phone to order room service causing her perfume to waft up from the sheets, and somehow it prompted him to order a summer salad that was out of season, but it had strawberries.

The next week was tense, and Khai was less than pleasant, feeling like he had a deadline to meet without the tools to meet it. Maybe it was presumptive of him to use his connections, buy tickets to a concert he would never be caught dead buying, but if he did manage to reconnect with her as promised, he would not show up empty handed for her birthday. That was only if he managed to find her before then, which was the source of his frustration. He was running out of time.

He'd never been one to let a woman get under his skin before, but no one he'd ever met could smile with such seduction and be playful all at once. No one's wit seemed to compliment his own as hers did, and no matter how mundane the conversation got, she never ceased to pique his interest. The fact that she was just as beautiful as she was charming did nothing to keep his mind from wandering. Khai craved her taste, her lips, her body, her breath as she moaned, dragging her bottom lip against his skin. He found himself distracted by all of the perfection of her from her hair like golden wheat, to her eyes like midsummer skies, down to the dimples of Venus that adorned her lower back, each curve and muscle he'd relished and ravaged until they both combusted from the intensity of it.

In comparison to his rather ordinary life, she knew hardship and adventure, and Khai had almost envied how she was her own person completely. Unlike him who went to an Ivy League school in the U.S. only to take over his father's company when he passed away, such a straight path that he tried to shake up a little when he made the firm international only to find himself working even harder. Her free-spirited nature had breathed life into him that he hadn't ever felt before, unlike the girls he'd dated in the past who tried to be a carbon copy of him, so proper and as boring as he was, where Mina wore her desires, all of her passion and chaos on her sleeve without shame.

It was why when the twenty-fifth rolled around, her birthday passed, with no sightings of her in the city no matter how hard he looked, Khai grew downright cantankerous. He was short with his friends, withdrawn, and more focused than ever with work. Business didn't stop despite the construction all around him in his new building, which created such noise that as an employer caused him to be more strict than usual, and he prided himself on being a pretty laid back CEO despite his stoic demeanor.

It was a Friday, and he was sitting in a crowded boardroom full of executives who were trying to wow him with a presentation on some future prospects that he wasn't paying a lick of attention to. Well, Khai paid attention long enough to know that they were blowing steam at him and he was less than impressed by their sorry attempts to focus on a market that did not suit their usual profiling. In fact, he was staring blankly at the table in front of him replaying that night over in his head, frowning at the fact that his memories would do her no justice regardless of how badly he missed that sweet scent of oranges and honeysuckle.

The boardroom was drafty, a product of the building being under construction, and his thoughts immediately went sideways as soon as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his suit jacket. His fingers becoming entwined with something stringy that he discreetly glanced down at, before quickly shoving it back into the pocket to quickly conceal it with the hope that no one else saw.

The image of her sliding her underwear down her thighs from under that short blue dress became so vivid, the way her blue eyes bore into his as she stuffed them in that very suit jacket and propositioned him to get a cab with that seductive husk to her voice caused his heartbeat to thunder in his ears. The memory of how he felt watching her walk away without the promise of unraveling the mystery of the blonde siren that sat at his table that made him desperate to know more than how her cherry lip balm tasted. And he missed the way she tasted...

"Mr. Zoltan?"

"Hm?" Khai shifted uneasily in his chair and cleared his throat, raising his eyes to address the room, clenching the bright red lacy thong in his pocket. He'd been doing this long enough now that regardless of what was being said he knew just how to respond. Especially when he was less than impressed with the prospect. "I think this requires further review. If we're going to entertain offering this solution to a client of this size we'll have to reassess the risks involved with their financial institution of operation. We'll have to move quickly so I'll need you to send me a copy of this presentation so I can have an analyst assigned for further review."

"Yes, sir." The sales manager clearly wasn't pleased, but if Khai knew anything, it was his job. Somehow this made the sting of forgetting to ask for her phone number far more irritating, and he frowned while the meeting adjourned, leaving his body mildly agitated and his mind reeling with memories of a woman he may never see again. A memento, and a reminder of that night of kisses flavored by strawberries and champagne, pancakes and mundane conversation he'd never forget.

That weekend, he moved into his apartment, just a block from his best friend in a similarly nice apartment complex in Azabu-Jūban with the help of his friends. He'd kept his mouth shut when confronted with their accusations of his less than friendly or social behavior, his pride preventing him from admitting that he was haunted by a night, and a woman he had all but given up searching for. It was for the best, after all, he had a business to run and a life to live, right?

It wasn't terribly hard with all of the construction going on in preparation to open the new branch location for his offices that Khai intended to make the hub of his company instead of the older office in New York. He was almost grateful for the distraction of staying busier than ever with business as usual on top of prospects in the new market. But it didn't stop him from searching the crowds for her head of blonde hair, or listening for her laugh when he'd go on a coffee run or one of Zaki's many outings to help him furnish Khai's new apartment. It didn't stop him from observing people he jogged passed in the morning with suppressed hope to find her bright blue eyes.

Sooner than he ever thought, the wind became colder, and Autumn gave way to Winter, coating the streets in snow and ice, colored lights illuminating the city with cheery holiday decor and an abundance of commercialism. They were weeks away from the ribbon cutting on the office, just on the other side of the New Year to allow his employees to enjoy the Christmas season. It wasn't really his thing, but Nigel was insistent on creating new traditions being that it was his first year in Japan and the first year they were all together for the season. Not to mention Mamoru was a nervous wreck having announced his intentions to marry his long time girlfriend.

Usagi was wonderful all around. The sweetest girl he'd ever met in his life, and absolutely perfect for his nerve stricken friend. Mamoru grew up in the foster system, a string of orphanages and homes, a lonely kid without much to his name until he received his inheritance from his long departed parents and started dating his childhood nemesis early on in his senior year of High School. But she was one of those people you couldn't help but love, and want to protect like she was your little sister. Hell, if she was that important to Mamoru, Khai had no problem doing anything in his power to see them happy.

He met Mamoru at Harvard, along with a few other guys who shared a house just off of campus. They clicked, they became family, and they all converged on Tokyo for its opportunity and culture, so they could stay together. Imagine the jeweler's expression when five big, hulking men walked into Jewelry OSA-P, a shop owned by Usagi's best friend, to pick out an engagement ring. It was a noisy affair that took nearly an afternoon because while Khai's taste was a little ostentatious, Nigel went for simple, and Zaki went for couture, while Jeison wanted something traditional, and they were all extremely vocal individuals. Khai thought about that poor saleswoman often, trying to cater to five men who knew nothing about buying engagement rings for a woman they weren't going to marry. But a ring was purchased because Mamoru knew Usagi, and it was perfect.

"Hey, you're coming tomorrow night, right?"

Khai looked up from staring at the dark screen on his phone, head rested in his palm as if he expected the thing to ring. He'd barely heard his friend sitting just beside him at the bar that was noisy with parody Christmas music and rowdy businessmen excited for a long weekend. His grey eyes shifted lazily toward Mamoru, answering with a barely convincing: "Of course. You know I wouldn't miss it."

Rolling his eyes, Mamoru took a drink of his gin and tonic, shifting just slightly in his stool to face him better. "Usa is really excited. It's the first Christmas all of our friends can get together and finally meet. I'd really like my best friend to be present regardless of how cheesy he thinks a Christmas Eve proposal is. I wanted to surprise her."

"I told you I wouldn't miss it. I mean it."

"I know you do, but you haven't been right for weeks. You didn't even argue when Nigel wanted to meet at this tacky little dive bar." Mamoru's brow lifted, as did the corner of his lips when he wasn't dignified with any answer other than Khai polishing off the other half of his bourbon in one go, placing the empty glass back on the sticky oak bar.

"He likes it here. I told him it's my Christmas gift to him." He replied flatly, flagging the bartender for a refill.

"How generous of you. So before the rest of the idiots show up, are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to torture it out of you?"

"Do your worst."

"I'm a heart surgeon. I'm pretty handy with a scalpel you know."

"I've been busy."

"Yeah, me too. And you're always busy." Mamoru fixed his blue eyes on him with a stubborn glare. There were few in existence that could make Khai talk with merely a look. Nothing forceful, but just as powerful and unwavering as his own icy stares, only warmer and likened to something more like a caring death threat.

Khai rolled his eyes, taking a glance around him at the twinkling lights and loud colors to make sure none of the other guys had shown up lest they hear his confession. "I met someone."

"That's great news though! Why are you the only human being on the planet that turns into a brooding, mopey asshat when something good happens to you?"

"We met really suddenly is all, we…." Khai trailed off and tried to think of a dignified way of describing what happened that night, pausing to thank the bartender for the fresh bourbon placed in front of him, regretting the immediate drink he took as soon as Mamoru opened his mouth.

"Oh god, did you have a one night stand and catch feelings? YOU!?"

"Shut up, it's different…" He bit like a naive teenage girl.

"Praytell, how it was different?"

Khai raked a hand down his face and glared at the heart surgeon, washing his disdain down with another drink. "How did it feel meeting Usagi for the first time?"

"Awful. She threw her test at me, I bullied her, and I continued to bully her until we graduated and I realized I didn't want to ever stop." Mamoru grinned his charming, dimpled grin, blue eyes twinkling like the love struck idiot he was. "In all seriousness, we started dating early Senior year and just never stopped. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. She was hardly some random girl I picked up at a bar. We have history."

"We had dinner together. That deal I practically moved here for?"

"The one that flaked… Like two months ago!?" Mamoru frowned a moment and shook his head. "I don't see how this relates, I thought that deal worked out."

"It did. But let me explain before Jeison shows up or I'll never tell you." His friend raised his hands in defeat, making that mocking motion that looked like he zipped his mouth shut. Khai sighed, but continued against his better judgment. "I was waiting for my client and she just sat at my table, simple as that. I figured they weren't going to show up since they were already over an hour late, and she was gorgeous. Like what other beautiful people wish they were kind of gorgeous. I wasn't expecting, it so I just went with it."

"Khai, I've never known you as someone who just 'goes with it." Khai glared and Mamoru's jaw set, urging him to keep explaining. "So, you had sex with a complete stranger."

"If you want me to be blunt about it, yes." He shifted his eyes again and leaned against the bar, ignoring Mamoru's slightly judgmental stare for the moment. "It was weird, like I knew her or something. She was witty and really smart, in an unconventional way I'll admit, but she knew how to push my buttons. You know I'm not-"

"Okay yeah, you're about as easy as chipping through a thirty foot wall with an ice pick but you can't say that you're a stranger to one night stands."

"I'm not Nigel, pre-Makoto, Mamoru I am at least selective. But when it was over, I asked her to stay." It was Mamoru's turn to nearly spit out his drink, motioning for him to continue. "We talked all night, and all morning, barely slept at all. Then we had breakfast together and it was just natural." Khai groaned and plopped his forehead on his folded hands to save him from direct contact with the sticky bar, Mamoru left watching with awestruck eyes. "I was supposed to reconnect with her for her birthday the week after. My priorities are so out of whack. I was so distracted by that business proposal popping up again last minute that I didn't get her number."

"You do work _way_ too much." Mamoru scolded, his blue eyes softening at Khai's very rare but rarely shown display of torment. "Did you get a name? You know social media is a thing right? You could just look her up and shoot her a message."

"I tried that. I created a few accounts on the more common ones and nothing. She must have a screen name which makes sense since she does some Instagram modeling and probably wants to keep her real identity anonymous."

"Smart. Well what's her name? Usako has a friend that has a pretty good social media following, I'm sure we can figure it out…"

"I appreciate it Mamoru but Tokyo is a big city. Besides, I'm not hard to find in my industry, if she wanted to find me she could." He sighed, defeated at Mamoru's frown. "She's hardly the kind of girl you'd hang around…er-"

"What's up assholes!" Nigel butted in between them, calling out for a beer and draping his arms around Khai and Mamoru's shoulders.

"Ugh, you smell like ass." Khai groaned and pushed the towering man's arm off of his shoulder with a hardened glare. "Do you ever shower?"

"Uh, some of us work hard for a living sir. We don't sit in fancy offices staring at our phones like some sixteen-year-old waiting by the phone for our crushes to call us." He barked a laugh at Khai's glare and took a big swig out of the beer that the bartender automatically placed on the counter. "Yeah, we've noticed."

"You try running three international investment firms and tell me I don't work hard." Khai mumbled into his bourbon, ignoring the barrage of noise that followed when Jeison and Zak both joined them for a guy's night out to celebrate the holiday. He loved his friends all the same, but Mamoru shared a sympathetic look with him. Khai could only shrug slightly and lift his bourbon to his lips, grey eyes automatically flickering to the still dark screen of his phone before he hid it in his pocket.

* * *

"Earth to Mina!" Rei bit sternly, slapping an impatient hand on the table. She tore her eyes from the website of a rather specific international brokerage firm on her phone and slid it into the pocket of her pea coat. "I swear you've been worse than Usagi in the space department for weeks now. What is going on?"

"I'm not THAT spacey Rei," Usagi pouted, and the two exchanged a look before fixing their attention back onto her. Usagi continued, and began very unsubtly winking. "Besides, she doesn't have to tell us if she doesn't want to. But she should text me later if she wants to talk about it."

"I'm fine, really." Mina waved her hands and forced what looked like an easy smile to prevent any sort of bickering, but Rei rolled her eyes because Mina said the same thing every time they asked if she was okay. "I'm just tired, and Christmas isn't exactly an easy time of year."

It was true. She and Makoto used to spend the holidays together before she met Nigel and he'd filled her friend's world with such happiness that she couldn't help but be a little jealous. Mina couldn't stand the thought of being the third wheel to intimate Christmas celebrations, though the food was no doubt incredible it wasn't worth that awkward, imposing feeling. Neither of them really had families, so they used to cling to each other this time of year, and while the invitation still stood, she always declined. The others simply kept talking while she rested her chin on the table, watching the bubbles in her cream soda drift upward. "I can still hear you guys you know."

"Don't blame us for being concerned, you're normally all over the place. You didn't even want to go out for your birthday and that was two months ago. Seriously, what gives? You know you can talk to us, Mina." Rei poked lovingly at her, and all Mina did was lift her eyes slowly to address her.

"Well, what do you say we hit the town tonight? There's a new bar downtown and likely a lot of cute guys!" Makoto offered cheerfully between waiting tables in her festively decorated little cafe.

"Says the girl dating Mamoru's hot friend." Mina muttered ruefully and sighed defeatedly at her even more chipper response.

"Doesn't mean I'm not a great wing woman!"

"I'm fine! Really!" Mina sat up, and while her shifting moods weren't always entirely unexpected her feigned excitement didn't go unnoticed by at least Rei. "Anyway, Usagi is going to throw a killer Christmas party at Mamoru's tomorrow. It'll be so much fun!"

"You're really coming!?" Usagi's eyes positively glittered when she piped in. As if Mina could say no. They all knew Mamoru was planning his grand proposal the first night all of their friends would be getting together under one roof, and she wouldn't miss it for the universe. He'd apparently had a really rough childhood, and while Christmas proposals were often looked at as tacky, Mina understood that for him Usagi was all of the holidays he had ever been deprived of as a child. Christmas morning, was every morning, and the occasion was perfect.

"Of course I'm coming Usa, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Her smile was genuine and she reached to squeeze her best friend's hand.

"No being a wet blanket at the party!" Makoto called out from across the cafe, "I'm baking my cherry tarts just to cheer you up!"

"Yeah, call and vent if you need to, we've got you but you'd better not spoil the party." Rei chimed in, bopping Mina playfully on the nose with a finger and a well meant smirk.

"Guys, come on, who isn't tired? If she wants to talk she'll talk. Mina's the life of the party, she just needs a good night's sleep." Ami piped in, cupping her mug of tea and shooting icy daggers at anyone who decided to prod Mina further. Which she couldn't have been more grateful for. "Speaking of, I need to head to the bookstore for some last minute gifts before class."

All of them groaned, herself included, and Ami glared at the lot of them. Mina pulled her phone from her pocket, and the website she'd left open on her browser peered back up at her. "Hey Ames, mind if I come along?"

They all stared at her, blinking as though she'd sprouted a second head. "What?"

"Of course you can come." Ami beamed excitedly, ignoring the other shocked expressions entirely while Mina stood to make her exit as soon as possible.

"I just want to check the latest manga selection is all." She excused, practically pushing Ami towards the door before she'd scarcely shrugged into her coat.

Mina shuffled behind a little, burrowing into her coat and scarf while her blue haired friend treaded forward without so much as a shiver. Snow fell in elegant dustings over the sidewalks which were crowded with bundled up people lugging shopping bags and various lights and decor. Shop windows looked warm and inviting no matter the variation of holiday music that drifted from their doors, and Mina realized she didn't actually *talk* to Ami much. She knew that her parents were divorced and that she was not only the smartest human being on the planet, but probably as competitive as she was, being a really great swimmer and a prodigy at chess as well.

"Hey, thanks for saving me from the sharks back there."

Ami turned on her heel to smile over her shoulder. "What are friends for?"

Warmed by the notion, Mina linked her arm with Ami as they walked and it wasn't long before they approached a crowded little offbeat bookshop. Mina was alone in a sea of people without much warning as her friend practically swam through the throngs toward the more advanced volumes toward the back of the store. Feeling a little lost, she bit her lip and began wondering if she shouldn't just leave when a very upbeat guy close to her age wearing an elf hat and ears approached her from the side.

"Can I help you miss?"

"Um, I was actually wondering if maybe you had a book called 'The Art of War'?"

The guy's expression shifted, and he looked at her like she was an idiot, something she'd come to expect in the land of intellectual reading, but he didn't have to look so smug about it. "Of course we do, it's a pretty important installment of-"

"Yeah okay, lead the way Elf Boy." She bit unamusedly and followed him despite his 'the customer is always right' sigh when he rolled his eyes. With some irony, there were only two copies left, one being a really fancy looking leatherbound edition, so Mina picked up both copies and hugged them to her chest like they were precious. She felt a lot better already, giving the shop worker a beaming smile and thanked him before pushing her way through the crowd of last minute shoppers to search for Ami.

One new volume of a trashy manga and the newest edition of Cosmo later, she found her friend rambling at one of the other employees with his arms overloaded with heavy volumes of some rather advanced texts Mina could only hope were reserved more for her academic friends than their usual crowd. At least this section of the store was a lot less packed with people.

"Hey Mina! I thought I lost you! They're having a sale and I think I have my shopping done for the year now." Ami beamed happily, for as brilliant as she was she often forgot the rest of them were simpletons that barely understood half of her vocabulary let alone her desired reading. The poor shop employee shot Mina a pleading look when Ami added another heavy volume to his arms.

Hugging her loot to her chest, Mina smiled back genuinely with a nervous laugh. "That's great Ames! Can I uh… help?"

"That would be-" Ami turned and paused at the small stack of books in Mina's arms, flushing when she inspected further beyond her Cosmo, and met her eyes with polite hesitation. "Is that 'The Art of War'?"

"Mm hmm?"

"You know you're holding two copies right?"

"One is um… a gift." Mina felt her cheeks grow hotter if that were possible, "Er...I hope it will be anyway."

"It suits you." Ami's eyes grew kind and the struggling employee followed them toward the counter to pay which was a whole other affair of packing her heavy loot into a few shopping bags.

"You think so?" Mina asked when they hit the street again, towing two of her friend's heavy cloth bags along with her own plastic shopping bag containing her much smaller purchase.

"Not that you're combative, but I mean you are very competitive, and you see things through, win or lose. You're more strategic about everything than you know." There was a beat of silence before she turned her knowing eyes to address her somewhat carefully. "I'm guessing this might have something to do with why you've been so quiet?" She didn't press, but when Mina remained quiet, her fingers visibly tensing on the bags in her hands and kept her blue eyes fixed forward, Ami smiled. "Want to tell me about it over some hot chocolate?"

"Don't you have class? And we just left Mako's…" She frowned at the friendly laughter directed at her, a little uneasy talking about things like an incredible one night stand and a man she hadn't stopped thinking about for a moment since they parted with Ami of all people who turned beet red at the mention of her tamest escapades.

"I already submitted my assignments weeks ago. And the quiz is only for those who either missed the pretest or scored below where they wanted to. The professor will take the higher of the scores."

"And you scored perfect on the pretest so there's no point in you taking this one…" Mina assumed, and Ami confirmed with an innocent shrug. "So you're just going to skip class then?"

"For you, yes."

"This is your way of guilting me into telling you, isn't it?"

"Yes. But only because you haven't been yourself, and we're worried. You've done a lot of strange things to get a man's attention, but you've never been the kind to keep secrets, not from us."

"Okay." She conceded and winced inwardly. "But you're not going to like it, and you're not allowed to judge."

An hour later they were both nestled into a small cafe cupping hot chocolate and after a rather graphic retelling of her encounter with Khai Zoltan, not that she offered his name, Ami's face was so red Mina thought she might start sweating blood, or suffer a nosebleed, so she kept napkins on hand. However, sufficiently red as she was, her expression was not judgemental, but sympathetic.

"So he's older, good looking, very successful," Ami paused to swallow and take a sip of her cocoa before speaking a little quieter, "He has a big...er.. He's good at- that, and has an intense taste in books. He sounds overall-"

"Intense all around, and -" Mina groaned defeatedly and her head fell hard against the table between them. "Way out of my league! He's ALMOST perfect, who am I kidding? Like, yeah we didn't exchange numbers, and he's a workaholic, and not on ANY social media, but the chemistry was like nothing I've ever felt, and we had breakfast and it was a little awkward but…"

"Did he give you the impression that he wants to see you again?"

"Maybe? I mean he was different, and I know it's easy for me to say, right? It's what all the girls say when they're dumb enough to believe it." She lifted her head and gave Ami a pleading look, "He's got his shit together you know?"

"I'm not asking to be rude, but did you even catch his name?"

"Yeah," Mina nodded, pulling out her phone to be greeted by the website for his company, the reason she'd bookmarked it peering straight back at her. The portrait of brokerage firm's CEO staring right back at her with his steely pale eyes and indifferent but professional demeanor, all pale silver hair, tanned skin and dark blue suit. "I do know where he works, but even that took some investigative work to find. I guess I'm just too big of a coward to try and run into him.."

"Normally, you would have stormed his place of employment by now wearing a sequined dress pretending to be some starlet in need of his services. It's not like you to seem so unsure of yourself, you're shameless, fearless... You must really like this guy, or he's no good for making you doubt yourself like this."

"I barely know him, but oddly I feel like I know him better than I knew any of the guys I dated before him, if that makes any sense. He's from Turkey and likes spicy food, bourbon and black coffee. His dad passed away during his first year of college and his mother is retired to Dubai with her new husband. Normally he'd spend Christmas there but he said he doesn't get along with his Step-Dad. He has friends here to keep him company while he's busy setting up a new branch for his firm in Tokyo. He's boring, and serious as hell, but absolutely mysterious and exciting! He told me if I read this book, I'd know him a lot better, which is a weird thing to say-"

"I don't think so. It says a lot about a person and the way they address certain parts of their lives. Work, relationships, competition… I think you should read it." Ami smiled and finished her hot chocolate, placing the peppermint stick in her mouth with a wink. "I think you'll find a lot about yourself too."

"Yeah well, he's way out of my league anyway Ames. What does a girl like me have to offer an older, successful, insanely gorgeous, intellectual and well put together guy like that? I'm a mess!" Dramatically, Mina buried her face in her folded arms on the table. "I guess I asked for this when I assumed he was my blind date that night, which spoiler alert, he wasn't!"

"You're yelling too, you know." Ami hushed quietly, still somehow retaining all of the blood in her body in her face while her wide blue eyes darted around them. Mina peeked up over her arms toward her friend who's knowing gaze locked onto hers, lips pursed in understanding. "Read the book, and maybe you'll find that you compliment each other more than you think. It's a pretty dry read, so if this guy says you'll know him better by reading it, and you can't stomach it, then perhaps it's best that you lost touch. Nothing lost, nothing gained."

"Wow, that's really helpful actually. I should come to you for dating advice more often!"

"Er… please don't." Ami laughed nervously and waved her hands in defeat like two white flags. "I mean I'm happy to try but, I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to dating. Maybe if there is a book involved? Otherwise I'm better left as a sympathetic ear."

Mina hopped up from her seat regardless and threw her arms around Ami tight. "Thank you for skipping class for me."

"Merry Christmas Mina." Ami returned the embrace slowly, releasing only with a light squeeze, her smile turning to confusion when she started packing up. "Are you leaving so soon?"

"I need an extra large coffee, and some cookies if I'm going to make it through this book tonight."

"I- I don't think you need to rush Mina-"

"Of _course_ I need to read it all tonight! There's no time to waste, the year is almost over and I'm gonna need a date for New Years!"

After a quick run into the nearest convenience store where she stocked up on cans of coffee and all variations of junk food that might have put a normal person into a sugar induced coma, Mina threw off her coat and settled in for a night of reading. She'd changed into her favorite oversized sweater and some thick wool thigh highs she found to be warm, sexy, and comfortable, settling into her equally oversized bed with a hot beverage and plenty of snacks to keep her company. Artemis hopped up on the bed and snuggled in close also when she chose to embark on this literary journey of seemingly very straight forward and aged military proverbs.

The reading was dry for certain. Mina was yawning after the first chapter and reached for the first can of coffee, determined to power through. It made her think though, and as the short sections went by quickly, the more she was able to relate to some of the proverbs and literal battle began to make sense to her, and even helped in some ways that allowed her to compare them to strategies in volleyball and her dance classes, even more so when it came down to her struggling ventures to become an idol and all of the competition that came with it. But it didn't matter where these words touched her life, they all reminded her of Khai. As he told her she would, Mina began to understand him.

This was the book that probably got him through school, through his father's death, and helped him grow his financial empire. It reminded her of his very stiff and harsh remarks about the client that stood him up that night and Mina wondered if he used some of the same ideals when it came to love. Yes, this book was like Khai in every way. Dry, serious, but methodical, relatable and logical as hell. Before she knew it, she reached the last page unable to stop wondering if there was an aspect of his life that Khai didn't relate back to this book. Not that she knew him well, but he didn't seem to be combative, but everything he did down to choosing his tie for the day was done with some kind of purpose.

Sure, there was a lot of it that didn't relate to her life at all, and quite a bit of it that she didn't understand. Likely, she'd never read it again herself but regardless, there were certain things she'd earmarked with the hope that maybe someday she could ask Khai to explain. A great sigh deflated her lungs, and she blinked her dry eyes toward the clock to blanch briefly at the very bright red numbers reading a very early hour of the morning.

A bathroom break and good stretch later, Mina nestled under her covers hugging a pillow to her chest while Artemis re-adjusted and snuggled warm against her back. If reading that stupid book did anything at all, it made her miss him and she pulled out her phone, once more tempted just to dial that phone number jut below his portrait as though he'd be at his office at 3 AM on Christmas Eve. Frowning, she set the phone on her nightstand and promised herself to dial that number once she got a few hours of sleep, and let the gentle purring of her small white cat lull her into dreams of strawberries and champagne.

"Are you serious right now? Get your ass out of bed lazy bones!" Rei was there ripping the covers off of her before Mina could fully recover from the dream she was having of finding his arms amidst the rage of some violent war like some scene from Gone With the Wind. Artemis hissed while Rei shooed him from the room, throwing open her closet doors so she could start throwing potential dresses at her. "We need your help setting up Mamoru's apartment. You KNOW it has to be perfect for tonight and you're the resident party expert. Red, green, gold, or classic black?"

"Red." Mina grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the bright light of day stinging when she opened them. "Why'd you wake me up so early, the party doesn't start till seven."

"It's almost three you half-wit! I called you eighteen times before showing up!" Rei growled, tossing a sexy bright red mini dress on the bed. "Now get ready and I'll go brew some coffee and make sure Artemis has food and water and whatnot. Remember, it's supposed to be a costume!"

"Thanks…. I think." Mina blew up through her mussed bangs and briefly assessed the dress now sprawled across her thick, royal blue duvet she thought looked so sophisticated against her coppery colored silk sheets. It was an extra special night, so they all had agreed to go overboard on the costuming with Makoto as an Elf, albeit a giant one, and Ami as a snow queen which became an afterthought when she spied what Rei had chosen to wear. It sparked a snort when the haze of sleep lifted just enough for her to be a smart ass. "Hey, are you wearing a Santa dress!?"

"Shower. Now!"


	3. Peppermint Kisses

Beyond the door to his best friend's apartment would be a slew of festive decor, ugly Christmas sweaters, and cheesy costumes, where he was decidedly dressed like a modern day Scrooge. He was fully prepared to take all of the shit from the guys for this because yes, he had gone into the office early that morning to wrap a few things up to take advantage of the deafening silence that came with having a blissfully vacant office building. There was never such a thing as too prepared when it came to financials and the end of the year, and he only had a few weeks until the new branch of his firm officially opened. So he wore his dark grey suit with pride, having enough sense to leave his tie in the car and leave a few buttons open on his black dress shirt to feign the appearance that he was just a tad bit more casual. Really, Khai was really just letting his neck breathe.

Christmas music covered by some pop idol group grated his ears, and in Grinchly fashion, he glared at the festive wreath on the painted white door in front of him, abated sigh deflating his chest when he finally knocked. With any luck, he'd only have to stay the hour until after Mamoru made his big move.

"Khai! You made it!" The music spilled out into the hallway, along with various scents of delicious food and uplifted spirits that seemed to follow the tiny blonde woman who greeted Khai by all but tackling him into a warm hug. Her voice was loud and excited like bells that echoed through the vacant entryway and might have disturbed Mamoru's neighbors if his flat didn't take up nearly the entire floor.

He smiled, he couldn't help himself because Usagi wasn't just good for Mamoru, but everyone around her. It was impossible not to feel endearment for her infectious, sweet nature, her excitement, and love for everything and everyone around her. Basically, if you made an enemy out of Tsukino Usagi, there was something inherently wrong with you. Even Khai felt a physical excitement flutter in his stomach knowing that in just an hour she would be the future Mrs. Chiba.

A bold assumption maybe, but to anyone who knew the inseparable power couple for any given amount of time would agree that it was a sure thing. So Khai gathered her small frame into his arms for a hug, chastely kissing the part of her hair between the two holly decorated buns she wore on her head. "I wouldn't miss it for the world Usagi. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas! Mamo-Chan will be SO happy you came!" She leaned in, her blue eyes narrowing as though she had some great secret to tell, and she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Though, I'm pretty sure Zaki has a bet going with Jeison that you might flake." Without missing a beat, she turned and began pulling Khai into a familiar foyer to a vastly changed apartment, calling loudly into a small crowd of people. "Mamo-Chan! Look who made it!"

The man in question met his eyes through the sea of Santa costumes with a triumphant and already half drunken grin, lifting his red solo cup in cheers. A cheap gold crown sat lopsided on his head of ebony hair and tacky green velvet cape covered a festive red tuxedo some party stores offered for Holiday parties like these. Khai extended his standard nod for a greeting, finding his lips quirking with the smallest of knowing smiles, but it was no less genuine than Usagi's excited grin.

"Well, would ya look at that, Scrooge himself has arrived." Khai took note of the first of many Christmas Carol jokes for the evening when Jeison and Nigel approached, both wearing ugly, gaudy sweaters, eyeing his red scarf, polished shoes, and dark wool coat with amusement.

"Lay off the punch." He commented, flicking the bell at the end of Jeison's obnoxious little elf hat before shrugging out of his coat and furthering his Scrooge status by revealing his very plain grey suit.

"Ooh, I think you look really nice!" Usagi butted in, taking his coat and scarf without his permission like she was doing him a favor. "Mamo-chan's bed was the best we could do for a coat closet, so I'll take this while you go _**have fun.**_ And you boys behave, it's Christmas, you know!"

With a good natured scolding look, the vibrant blonde was bounding off with her arms full of his coat and scarf, her long pigtails trailing behind her cute little white angel dress. It couldn't have been more fitting, except in reference to these specific men, behaving didn't exactly go hand in hand.

"Pfft, what does she know? You're a miser down to that grey hair of yours lately and you wouldn't know fun if the Ghosts of Christmas Past came to haunt you in your sleep." Nigel mused, shifting his lively brown eyes from Usagi's retreating back to him to reassess his attire. "Not I think Scrooge would be caught dead in Armani."

Khai shot him a less than amused glare for it, sifting his fingers through the length of said silver toned hair. "Clever, Dickens."

"You could stand to take Usa's advice and at least try to enjoy yourself. Our little boy is growing up!" Nigel draped an arm around his shoulders flashing his megawatt cheesy, but charming toothy grin. "We're also gonna have a bachelor party to plan soon..."

"Shhh...Not if you don't keep your trap shut. Usa has ears like a rabbit." Khai muttered, and Jeison just nodded, causing the bell on his hat to jingle annoyingly.

"Yeah, and Rei threatened to light me on fire twice while she was setting up the candles so I really don't feel like testing her." Jeison's cerulean eyes shifted back up at the two taller men and his lips curled in a less than savory grin. "Oh she'd totally do it if we blow Mamoru's cover, and I'm this close to finding some mistletoe around here. Better bet I'll go down for kissing her before I ruin the big surprise tonight."

"Hah, good luck Elf boy." Nigel clapped a hand on Jeison's shoulder and pulled Khai in tighter to take a quick selfie, blinding them both with the flash from his phone. "I'm gonna go catch up with Makoto, you should come and meet her real quick."

"I'm gonna grab a drink and I'll make the rounds." Khai promised, blinking to try and clear some of the rather colorful spots from in front of his eyes. "You should do that to Zak and see if you walk away with your head."

"I hugged him earlier. I'm pretty sure he still wants to claw my eyes out for it. You're right though, a celebratory selfie is just the bro bonding we need." Nigel grinned wider and headed straight for their friend in his classier green sweater, long curls of strawberry blonde pulled back into his standard low ponytail adorned by a larger than normal green ribbon. "OOH even better! Jei, let me know if you find that mistletoe! I might need to borrow it."

"Careful HE doesn't set you on fire." Jeison promised with a grin, rubbing his hands together when he spied Rei struggling with some heavy boxes full of unopened wine bottles. "Pardon me, Santa looks like she could use a little helper."

Khai groaned and rolled his eyes, finding himself abandoned entirely for a rather pretty woman with long raven hair, flaunting some killer legs in some red heels and a short Santa suit. If he had to guess, her name was probably Rei. He sighed heavy through his lips, the holiday never really had been his thing, and considering the mood he'd been in over the past couple of months he supposed the nickname of Scrooge was only fitting.

Mamoru's apartment was nearly unrecognizable. He and Mamoru had very similar, minimalist styles, so the flat once decked in clean lines and neutral colors was now filled with ambiance and color, elegant nonetheless for the occasion and not too over the top. Khai had no doubt with Usagi around, his days of very minimal color were coming to an abrupt end. The living space was dimly lit but made bright by about a billion twinkle lights and candles all secured in glass tumblers, huge, overly decorated Christmas tree was left dark in front of the windows, where rather fittingly, a thick shower of snow could be seen falling outside.

At first glance, Khai knew many of those in attendance, though most were limited to acquaintances. He'd briefly met a few of Usagi's friends who made up the majority of the crowd, the rest were some of Mamoru's colleagues, and older friends from his days of studying at the noisy and very busy Fruits Parlor: Crown Arcade in a time before he'd met any of them. It was only recently that Mamoru would admit to doing very little studying at the teenage hangout and that it was all just a ruse to run into Usagi so they could get into one of their legendary arguments. This forced a lot of coffee fueled, all night study sessions for Mamoru according to Motoki, who hands down had the very best stories of their juvenile occurrences.

Khai meandered through the small crowd toward the buffet to seek out a drink, making pleasantries where he could. They'd set up a long catering table in the dining room beside the kitchen, packed with too much food for him to name and handcrafted beverages. Refusing some eggnog atrocity, Khai opted for some heavily spiked, spiced cider, checking his watch out of habit with nerves for the hour to come.

"Bored already?" Nigel appeared out of nowhere, digging an elbow into his ribs nearly causing Khai to spit out his drink. For such a tall, hulking idiot he sure was stealthy when he wanted to be. "Hey, I want you to meet Kino Makoto. She's Usagi's friend, probably the best cook on the planet, as well as one of the most beautiful women alive."

"Oh please." Makoto rolled her eyes, and Nigel wasn't wrong about how pretty she was. The girl was tall, like up to his nose tall and Khai was six foot two. She was built like a brick house, but her eyes were as green as her Elf costume, which suited her ponytail of auburn ringlets and the sugar sweet nature of her smile. She was stunning really, like the girl next door, and beside Nigel's six foot five frame he didn't dwarf her so much as Makoto complimented him completely. "It's nice to meet you Khai, I've heard a ton about you! Congratulations on the new branch for your firm, and welcome to Tokyo."

"Thank you. Nigel talks about nothing else, and I wish that were an exaggeration. It's nice to finally meet you." Khai lifted his cup to her, genuinely charmed by the couple that looked like they were plucked right out of a Hallmark movie.

Makoto flushed, purposefully leaning back against Nigel's chest with a half smug expression. "Well, you're a perfect gentleman. Hardly the MMMPH-"

"Now, now Mako, you're boring poor Khai to death." She glared with her eyes, but Nigel pulled Makoto in to kiss the crown of her head while his hand was clamped tightly over her mouth. "I certainly said nothing but nice things about him -OOF!"

He doubled over slightly from taking Makoto's elbowed jab to the stomach, one of the only people he'd seen get the better of Nigel, and Khai decided right away that he liked this girl a lot. She'd be good for him. "It's fine Makoto. I'm used to their nicknames and juvenile humor. I do work too much, and they have less than endearing ways of reminding me, but they always mean well."

"Well, I've got your back and your stomach." She said with a wink, "Speaking of, you should eat, I always overcook for these occasions and there's plenty. I'm pretty much begging you because I am overstocked at my cafe, and I have NO room at my house to bring this stuff home."

"I'll eat it!" Usagi called out with a girlish laugh. She was perched on Mamoru's knee with a piled plate of sugary goodies to share. Khai frowned at the sight, only because a slightly intoxicated Mamoru with a sugar high, while sometimes entertaining, was a bit chatty and sometimes a little emotional. Not great for what he was about to do.

He almost intervened while the others carried on around him, but somewhere over the sounds of 'Santa Baby' and murmurs of various conversations, he heard a familiar laugh. It was a laugh he'd memorized months ago during the ungodly morning hours where the rest of the world slept, and he was propped up in a hotel bed with a beautiful blonde in his arms, charming him beyond reason with talk about the most boring, and sometimes embarrassing details about each other.

Khai kept his cool, casually turning with his drink in hand to scan the crowded room with blind hope, grey eyes falling almost immediately on her. She was disarmingly beautiful, more so than his bland imagination allowed him to remember, wondering if he'd missed her somehow in his search through seas of people on crowded streets, or the jungles of various social media platforms. It was almost humorous to him that he should find her here, in the last place he would have thought to look, where that laughter was a salve to the regret he felt ever since he'd failed to get her number.

Khai certainly hadn't expected to find her at his best friend's Christmas party, laughing and talking to Jeison of all people, being charming as ever with a candy cane posed suggestively between her velvety matte red lips. It took him a moment to realize his friend was trying to con the headband she wore from her, one that dangled mistletoe in front of her face by a spring that bobbed in front of her face when she laughed. Those who passed by her would stop to kiss her cheek or chastely kiss her lips, an adorably flirtatious gimmick to her costume that told him she was as free spirited as she was extrovertedly charming. She certainly had his interest piqued, his blood pressure rising from the mere sight of her and the many memories Khai had of those alluring lips.

Her eyes glittered like blue diamonds in the dim lights, makeup kept simple with thick cat winged liner to accompany those candy red, petal soft lips, skin glowing with a gold tinted sheen and a rosy flush. Golden hair fell in loose curls down to her waist, held half back by a large red ribbon and framed her face with a thick fringe, and Khai felt his mouth water when he allowed himself to acknowledge her attire. Her dress was a matching holiday red, a tight number that emphasized the deep curves of her body and flared around her thighs baring an incredible set of legs. They were sheathed to the thigh with red and white striped stockings like the candy cane she absently sucked on, topped with a pair of red heeled mary janes with decorative bows for a sweet twist on her otherwise sexy costume.

She shooed Jeison toward Rei without surrendering her mistletoe headband, issuing a blinding smile when the couple started to dance, but Khai swore he saw something longing pass behind her eyes when she gazed at them. It was a far cry from the seductress that he knew, and as much as she mingled and socialized she seemed almost lonely. All that shifted of course, when Usagi practically skipped toward her, linking arms to whisper excited gossip about how Jeison and Rei seemed to put aside whatever differences they had to have a little fun, dancing closely with no mistletoe required.

Khai's feet moved toward her before he gave them permission to. Somehow, he felt as if he didn't act before the grande proposal, he was going to miss his chance, and he couldn't afford to let her slip through his fingers for a second time. So he polished off the strong cider in one go, discarding the red cup while the afterburn from the warm apple taste slipped down his throat and the warmth from the booze spread courage to his limbs. Khai approached from the side, ignoring the way Usagi perked up to fix his gaze down at Mina. "Fashionably late. Again."

Mina shifted to meet his pointed stare, wide with surprise while something sly and knowing gleamed in Usagi's wide, crystalline blue eyes beside her. "You two know each other? Mina, this is Mamo-Chan's closest friend Khai. He just moved here about three months ago. Such a small world, dontcha think?"

"Yes." Khai answered for her, looking only at Mina who smiled, and slowly folded her arms, still holding that candy cane between her lips. "What are the chances?"

"We've met." Mina finally piped in, shooting Usagi a look from under her dangling mistletoe, shifting forward on her feet to wrap her hand around his bicep, lifting her chin to finally meet his eyes. He felt goosebumps rise to his skin from under his suit jacket and shirt, grateful for the coverage to hide it because her perfume hit him above all of the festive scents in the room, still all sweet and honeysuckle like a summer afternoon, now hinted with the peppermint candy on her breath. Air he wanted, and needed to breathe, immediately. "In fact, I think we have some catching up to do. You know, boring stuff."

"Don't do anything you would do!" Usagi called out with a positively gleeful expression after them as Mina began pulling him through the crowd toward the kitchen which was probably the least occupied room of the house with the exception of Mamoru's bedroom.

She tossed the peppermint stick in the trash on her way into the normally clean and sterile space, now cluttered with cups, paper plates, and empty wine bottles. Gripping the lapels of his suit jacket, Mina pulled him in until her back hit the counter and they were mostly concealed from the crowd in the neighboring room. When he met her summery blue eyes, Khai noticed the background noise dulled and his throat ran dry when he attempted to swallow the knot in it.

The silence was awkward, both stuck at an impasse between strangers and friends since acquaintances didn't really cover it and while she seemed to have trouble holding his eyes. He couldn't look at anything else. It felt surreal just to be near her after all that time, like all of it was some absurd dream he'd been chasing, and while he wanted to reach for her it felt presumptuous to do so. "I didn't expect to see you again. I didn't know you were Mamoru's friend or…" Mina trailed off, shifting her stare to the side. "He and I aren't close, but Usagi's been like a sister to me for a long time."

He smiled, lifting a hand to brush some stray hair stuck in her silly mistletoe headband from her cheek, remembering the very sweet way she spoke about her friends the night they met. He knew Makoto, Rei, and Ami were all friends of Usagi's so he gathered they must be her friends as well. "I understand what you mean about your friends now. They could absolutely take out a mob boss. I was right to be afraid."

This made her smile, but when her eyes flickered up to his, the misplaced uncertainty was shocking to him. "I'm so sorry Khai."

His grey eyes widened some, brows barely furrowing with his confusion. "What for?"

"I should have called you, or shown up at your office, or-"

"First thing's first." He interrupted, lacing his fingers into her hair, as soft and thick as he remembered, and pulled those rose petal lips to meet his own. It's true while he was wasting time on Instagram or creating Twitter accounts and scouring SnapChat in vain, he had hoped Mina might Google his name and track him down. It was an empty hope, not that he was a big believer in fate, but Khai had kept his hope to himself that she might have felt the same chemistry between them that night. Even if his new office building wasn't operational yet, the website for his company contained his main office number- which always forwarded his calls to his cell.

None of that mattered with her peppermint flavored lips pressed against his own, and she pulled off her headband, tossing it into the trash without missing a beat, lacing her arms tightly around his neck. Mina practically crawled up on the counter herself, not without his help of course as Khai found himself pulled between her stocking clad thighs, red lipstick be damned, parting his lips to appease her impatient tongue. Cans, bottles, whatever was in her way was pushed unceremoniously aside and clattered to the floor or into the sink beside them.

"Damn right you should have called." Khai breathed against her still parted lips, breaking from the heat of the kiss to stare into her eyes. "I searched for you." His lips grazed her cheek until they reached the lobe of her ear, allowing him to inhale a breath of her perfume. "One night wasn't nearly enough."

"I know." She practically gasped, pulling him closer with the legs she'd wrapped around his waist from the counter. The feeling of her nails grazing the back of his neck was all the invitation he needed to taste the sensitive flesh of her neck, causing her back to arch into him and her fingers tensed and she tilted her head, "When it comes to dates, you're one for three. You missed my birthday."

"No, no, no, that's on you, Mina." Khai nipped her roughly with his teeth. She gasped and stiffened in his arms from the pain, so he soothed the nipped skin with his tongue. "You could have found me. Easily."

"It still took a few weeks, I…" He could almost feel her uncertainty in her stillness all of the sudden, slipping his hand back to cup her cheek as he withdrew to assess the wary emotion in her eyes but Mina only laughed and handed him a napkin. Based on the way her lipstick had smudged, he could only imagine the stained nightmare of his own and accepted, running it under a touch of water before scrubbing at his mouth. Mina did the same, wiping her lips clean, pausing to stare down at the napkin, stained red, crumpled in her palm. "I wasn't sure you'd want to see me."

"You're kidding right?"

She blanched, staring back at him with wide and disbelieving blues. "Is it so unrealistic that a guy like you wouldn't want to just move on? I mean, I told you what a mess I am and I guess it didn't dawn on me until I said it out loud, but I don't deserve-"

"Mina." Khai interrupted again more sternly before she could spout anymore insanity, stepping back between her thighs to urge her eyes into his own with well placed fingers at her chin. He was a hard book to read, he knew that because it was purposeful. He was an idiot to assume she could read him yet. "I know you don't know me well, but I didn't want to go to work that day. I wanted to lie in that hotel room listening to you talk about everything and nothing. I wanted to know you. That's a big deal. For me."

"You really searched for me?"

"In every crowd, and on every social media platform I could think of."

"You said you hate social media."

Khai smiled, observing the adorable shifts of her face when her nose would crinkle or she'd bite the plush petal of her bottom lip between her teeth in a manner that made his thoughts turn sideways. "I do. But I hate not knowing about what fascinates me, and you fascinate me, Mina. I'd like to keep getting to know you. Like why you'd throw that headband away. Mistletoe is for kissing isn't it?"

She smiled, hooking her legs around him to pull him closer, and this time Khai rested his hands on the curve of her hip and stared deep into her eyes while a familiar mischief flickered through hers. "Maybe I don't wanna kiss anyone else."

"What? They're not boring enough for you?" He teased, tentatively brushing his lips against hers.

"Mm, no one bores me like you do." Her arms snaked around his neck, and he could feel the familiar heat ignite the air between them with her cheeky banter and restored confidence. That wit that kept him on the edge of his seat. Mina pulled him forward until their chests met, and her skirt bunched up around her hips, revealing more of her thigh above the striped stockings for his fingers to feast upon. Warm and soft to the touch, but firm beneath the pads of his fingers he indulged himself with light caresses as he met the longing of her blue eyes with his own. Mina pressed her mouth against his, and the rest just seemed to melt away.

Khai was at her mercy, drowning in her hungered kisses much the way they did the night that they met and he couldn't give a damn who saw them. The low moan that betrayed him seemed to feed her wandering hands beneath his suit jacket, pulling him deeper with fingers buried in his hair, and Khai found himself ready to give her whatever she wanted, wherever she wanted it. The nature of that pressure below his belt that strained the unforgiving nature of his slacks as they tightened when Mina rocked her groin against his crotch, skirt bunched around her hips allowing the heat of her to become tangible through the thin fabric of her underwear.

His hands had found their way under her skirt, kneading and pulling her against his hardening groin while they devoured each other in a manner unsuited for the eyes of the potential audience in the crowded neighboring room. It was a kitchen, at a party, surely someone was likely to walk in, but it didn't stop Khai from unfastening his belt, allowing Mina to immediately reach for the button and zipper on his pants with the same thought. They could be discreet.

Time and place be damned, he thought he might burst when she first slipped her hand between them to caress his cock through his boxer briefs and he moaned against her lips, curling his fingers into the elastic of her underwear to pull them off because he hadn't stopped thinking about that first night for the past two months. The way her body gripped him when he thrust himself inside her, the breathy moans against his skin, and to hear his name on her lips had been a two-month-long fantasy he could no longer ignore. And Gods did he want her.

"Mina…" Khai moaned softly, trailing his lips to her neck, sucking lightly to pull her heartbeat into his mouth because if his memory served him right that had been a hot button for her, proven right by the less than discreet moan she tried to stifle with a bitten lip, her fingers curling in his hair.

"I want you." He felt her fingers slipped into the elastic of his boxer briefs with her breathy declaration, only when he thought one thing would happen, things went sideways really fast.

"Khaaaaaaaiiii, what the fuuuuck?"

Mina's hands pushed at his chest with a surprised squeak, both of them jumping out of their skin when Mamoru staggered and leaned against the doorframe. Khai quickly checked his watch, hair mussed and lips swollen, busted with a tent in his pants which were completely undone, all ten minutes before his best friend was supposed to propose to his girlfriend. "Mamoru, are you alright?"

"You were gonna have sex in my kitchen!?" He slurred, and spoke far louder than he probably thought he did so Khai quickly fixed his pants and stepped forward to gather Mamoru into the small space while Mina sat on the counter still trying to catch her breath. "Man, it's messy in here. Khai were you going to-"

"Shhhh… we've gotta get you pulled together before-"

"I love you man. I… I'm really glad you're here, because when I ask Usako-"

"Nonono don't say it too loud!" Mina hopped off the counter to hush him and helped to get Mamoru settled onto a spare stool.

"Awww, is this THE girl Khai!? She's pretty… and you're pretty Khai ..."

"I'm Usagi's best friend Mamoru, we've met." She shot Khai a look while he busied himself filling a hopefully clean red solo cup with some water.

"OH YEAH! MINA RIGHT?! Oh, you're the best Mina…. And he's the best, so you guys be the best people together, okay? Just don't have sex on my counter."

Khai had to shoot Mina a look when she snorted, and he crouched down in front of Mamoru, raking a hand down his face while handing him some water. "Drink."

"I'll go grab him something to eat. I don't know if Makoto knows how to make anything greasy but I'll do my best." Mina placed a hand on his shoulder, and the two shared a look that made Mamoru's hazy blue eyes glass over and fill with tears.

"Ohmygod you make him so HAPPY!"

"Mamoru, drink." Khai shot, forcing him to obey regardless of the emotions welling in his eyes while Mina scurried off to raid the buffet. He made sure she'd left the room before he added a hushed, "We barely know each other."

"Usagi makes me that happy. You deserve to be happy too and we can all be-" He paused to raise the cup to Khai, sloshing some of the water onto his red suit pants. "okay, okay I'm drinking the water. But I wanted you to know that I love her, and I love you, and ohmygosh I'm drunk. I'm supposed to do a thing Khai! How could you let me get drunk like this you asshole?" Khai plucked the cup from Mamoru's fingers, rolled his eyes and stood to get him more water.

"I'll remind you when you're sober that you're a big boy now, capable of making your own decisions." He replied dryly. Mamoru just chuckled softly and gazed back up at him, leaning against the back wall. He paused when he spoke, voice soft and still slightly slurred.

"Time's stupid. It doesn't matter how long you've known each other. If she knows about your job, your friends, your family… then she knows you. The rest just kinda happens. If you wanna be with her, then be with her. Just not on my counter please."

Khai deflated a slow breath as he turned off the faucet, lips tensing. Mamoru was always right, he just hated it when Mamoru was drunk AND right. His lips parted to speak, turning back to his drunk friend to offer his admission that somehow in the spark of a moment Mina had gotten under his skin, and Khai wasn't sure how deep just yet. Clamping his jaw shut he thought better of it, kept his silence, and merely slipped the cup back into Mamoru's fingers.

"Here," Mina interjected, rushing in with a plate full of sandwiches and thankfully some side dishes of substance. Khai's stare lingered on Mamoru while he processed his drunken, but wise, words, only shifting down to the blonde crouched between them while she held the plate for his friend. "Eat up, it's almost time!"

The beaming smile on her face, the excited twinkle in her eye made her all the more beautiful the longer he watched her care for him, content to let this play out when of course, five minutes before he was supposed to propose is when Mamoru began to break down. Cracking voice and sniffling included. "Do you think she really loves me?"

"What? Of course she does Mamoru, Usagi's my best friend and you two are more than made for each other." Mina soothed while he began shoving food in his mouth, and Khai couldn't help but notice the dreamy look in her eyes while she spoke. "You're her whole world. You do know that right? It's Usagi we're talking about."

"Yeah...you're right." He sniffled, taking the napkin Mina extended to wipe his nose. "I just can't believe I got so lucky."

"Come on, we gotta pull you together pal." Khai interrupted, taking the plate out of Mamoru's hands once he'd downed about three sandwiches in addition to whatever sugary crap Usagi was feeding him and Khai lead him over to the sink to help splash some cold water onto his face. "You've gotta do this Mamoru, you'll never forgive yourself if you don't."

"You're a really good friend-OW!" there was a loud crack when Khai slapped his palm hard against Mamoru's cheek causing a sobering glare from under his deep black hair. "ASSHOLE!"

"You'll thank me later." He replied and threw a dishtowel at him to dry his face, just as Usagi called out for Mamoru from the other room.

"Mamo-Chan! It's almost time to light the tree, you said I could put the star on top!"

"Shit… I don't know if I can do this." Khai watched him rake a hand through his careless hair before attempting to re-tame the dark locks with his fingers. The anxiety read clear in his blue eyes and he wrung his hands, blinking hard to try and sober up. "I mean everyone's here and.."

"You love her, right? Because she loves you more than anything." Mina had stepped forward, and Mamoru's cobalt eyes drifted toward her. He wasn't perfectly right yet but took another drink from his third cup of water. "You can do it, if it's right. You're her prince. Mamoru. She's always wanted to be a bride, and I don't think you'll ever see her more happy and excited than the moment you ask her. Usagi was made for you, and you were made for her."

"Yeah?" Mamoru's voice cracked a little, and Khai thought about smacking him again when the emotion touched his voice but chose to keep his hands to himself. The reassurance in her tone was enough to set even him at ease because everything she said was so on point. "I think I might be sick."

"Hey." Khai placed both hands on his shoulders and looked Mamoru in the eye with a sincere smile only the people closest to him ever saw. He knew Mina stared at him, but somehow he was okay with her seeing this rarely placed emotion from him, and even smiled wider. "You've got this buddy. Go make her the happiest girl in the world, because she's sure as hell the luckiest. I'd better have a bachelor party to plan and a wedding to help you with soon. You good?"

"Yeah, I'd do anything for Usako." Mamoru smiled and slapped his hands on Khai's shoulders in return, pulling him in for a brotherly hug. "I think I'm good. Thanks."

Mamoru cleared his throat, threw back the rest of the cold water in his cup and began the task of clumsily straightening out his costume-like red tuxedo. Khai plopped the cheap plastic gold crown back on top of his head with a reassuring look before gently pushing Mamoru out of the kitchen at the sound of Usagi's voice again, pausing with a deep breath to fully process everything that just happened.

Slowly, Khai turned back toward Mina who still watched him, leaning all prettily against the counter with her hands folded in front of her. "I guess it's time." She offered a small smile and took a step toward him, gazing up with her clear blue eyes through her lashes and lacing her fingers with his, pulling him out to join the crowd with a promise. "We can finish this later."

She gave him the eye over her shoulder, a look she'd given him once before on her way out of a restaurant to catch a taxi. One that led to a risky night of two strangers taking a chance on the other, a look that made him reckless in the most thrilling of ways. But tonight wasn't about him and his reckless abandonment of reason, his desires, or regrets.

The strings of lights had been turned off, bathing the dark and crowded living room in nothing but the light reflecting in from the snow outside and about a dozen or more lit candles. Mina lead him toward the front, never once letting go of his hand. Khai let her stand in front of him, leaning her back against his chest so she could teasingly rub her ass against his groin like his body wasn't still reeling enough. He set his jaw and clamped his free hand on her hip to halt her, pulling her flush against him in the process because he knew at some point these lights would turn back on and he'd already been caught with a tent in his pants once that night.

Mina laughed softly in her throat, then gasped a little and tensed, seeming to remember they were in a crowded room of their friends, and the sultry scent of her perfume hit him as he bent to whisper a promise against the shell of her ear. "Later."

It didn't stop him from tracing the curve of her waist, the back of her head hit the center of his chest so he could indulge in the scent of her shampoo and the feeling of her fingers laced in his. Neither looked anywhere but at the happy couple in front of them, his best friend and hers, as the countdown to light up the Christmas tree began no matter how lost in each other they became. Everyone gathered in a tight crescent formation as Mamoru lifted Usagi so she could place the star at its peak, igniting a tension, an excitement about what was to come. Yet for Khai, just her fingers entwined with his, her body pressed to him, these stolen caresses were electrified with the need just to touch her.

"I don't know if I'd say she's the luckiest. I'm feeling pretty lucky right now." Mina said quietly, and Khai only squeezed her hand gently in his own. He couldn't help but think how perfectly their hands fit together, but kept his stoic gaze forward, fighting the urge to grin like a fool.

Usagi froze when Mamoru dropped to his knee, obviously trying to keep his focus so he didn't slur or mess this up. The tree lit the room at the final countdown, gleaming in Usagi's already watering eyes as she held a hand over her mouth in apparent shock. Such a public moment had never been Mamoru's style, but he knew how much it would mean to her to have all of her friends present.

"Usako, this moment right now is what every day of my life has felt like since you became a part of it. Our friends all gathered on Christmas Eve, the excitement of lighting the tree… gosh, it's cheesy as heck but that's exactly what you did for me. I never had a family until I met you and your friends who apparently adopted me. You let me go to college overseas so I could find the brothers I always wanted, I just never knew I had.-" Khai coughed into his fist, seeing Mamoru getting emotional and losing track of what he was doing, which caused him to chuckle, nodding while he reached into his pocket for the ring. "You and I are everything fairy tales wish they could be. You make Christmas morning every morning, and I want that, I want you, for the rest of my life. Usako, will you marry me?"

Mina sniffled, tightening her fingers around his while she wiped her eyes with her free hand. Khai didn't need to look to know there weren't many dry eyes in the room, and even he felt a tightening in his throat he hadn't felt in years. Usagi sobbed, tears streaming down her face, but she smiled wide when Mamoru took her hand in his, pulling it toward him so he could slip a ring onto the finger before she tackled him. "Yes Mamo-Chan, Yes!"

Khai tightened his own fingers around Mina's, and when the crowded room erupted into triumphant celebration, they just looked at each other. It was strange to look at someone, virtually a stranger, and see more than one night. To feel the pining of a couple of months fixed into the blue eyes of a beautiful woman that so effortlessly made him forget about the end of the year accounting chaos of running a large business or nailing that next big sales win. She smiled wider, and yet in the flash of a moment, Usagi was pulling her away from him. Like two sisters, they shared a tearful hug, and soon they were enveloped in a group hug consisting of squealing women crying happy tears for their friends. Mamoru was right, they knew each other well enough, and the rest could come later. And Khai realized he wanted there to be a later with Mina.

"MY MAN!" Nigel's booming voice tore Khai from his thoughts, and suddenly he was pulled into an equally emotional, though much smaller group hug by one of the taller man's brutishly strong arms. He couldn't help but smile, through the tangled web of arms to meet Mamoru's watery blue eyes and broad dimpled smile.

"Congratulations!" Zak beamed, reaching to ruffle their friend's inky black hair, sending that cheesy gold crown clattering to the floor. Even he partook in shamelessly damn near snuggling Mamoru who was still a little drunk, perhaps extraordinarily emotional.

Jeison hugged around Mamoru's waist from behind, patting his chest with a cheeky grin. "We knew you could do it mate! Strippers are on me for the bachelor party!"

"NO strippers!"

One might have thought Usagi would shout the sentiment, but somewhere beyond the crowd of blubbering women, Rei's hostile and piercing violet eyes caused all five of the huddled men to visibly shiver. Khai blanched and turned back to pull Mamoru in for a hug when the other guys finally let go, pressing his forehead against his with a proud grin. "I told you it would be fine. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, Khai." Mamoru sniffled and suddenly the air became a distant memory when his arms restricted him in an iron grip. "You'll be my best man right?"

"Shouldn't that be Motoki? He was there when you met and-"

"I'll have two dammit!"

Khai laughed and gave his back a brotherly pat. "You can do whatever you want. Just say the word, I'll make it happen."

The alcohol began to flow more freely as the celebration took on a new tone and Makoto began flooding them all with various desserts and baked goods. Of which at least three pastries and one pudding dish were forced upon him against his will, and better judgment. True, they were sinfully delicious, but he knew all too well the stomach ache to come based on his long time decision to avoid processed sugar. Well, these girls were practically made of it and Khai wasn't sure how he'd survive as it was very clear that their friends had fully merged into a strange and functional but dysfunctional family.

Zaki was arguing over the chemistry in the particular wine that he'd been so gracious in choosing for the evening with a rather pretty girl with short blue hair and somewhat alternative style that worked at the hospital with Mamoru. Jeison, had rather disgustingly, dug Mina's mistletoe headband out of the trash which somehow worked in his favor since Rei had apparently caved in to his shameless flirting by the way she was kissing the daylights out of him in a dark corner. Makoto was having a blast, taking a break from serving dessert to play some game Nigel had pulled out of nowhere while the rest of the crowd began to gather around them, or thin and leave for home.

He chose to stand by the tree, watching the snow falling in thick, sparkling sheets over Tokyo, waiting patiently for Mina to untangle herself from social obligation. Normally, Khai would have made his exit by now. It was growing late and by nature, he was an early riser with no one's agenda but his own to manage but he kept meeting her eyes through the crowd, and he couldn't leave without at least getting her number this time. Sometimes he caught her staring in appreciation, other times she gave him a sympathetic smile as she tried to get away, but apparently Mina was quite the social butterfly.

"I brought you a sugar cookie. I frosted this one myself." His eyes drifted down to the blonde beside him, brow raised and lips quirked with mild amusement. "I only know because I'm really bad at this. It's supposed to be Santa, but it kind of looks like a pig…"

"That will destroy my stomach." Like it wasn't already doomed.

Mina rolled her eyes and shifted on her feet, breaking the cookie in half. "It's tradition. We always bake cookies, well Makoto does the baking, and we all have one with milk before bed on Christmas eve. I'll even split it with you."

Khai frowned, feeling his stomach already churning from the sugary junk Nigel's girlfriend had imposed upon him. "I'm good."

"C'mon, just because it's not green and flavorless doesn't mean it's going to kill you. It was the only excuse I could find to escape the crowd since you insist on not mingling. Here, pretend it's kale or something."

At her insistence, Khai rolled his eyes and took a bite, even caving when she shoved her solo cup of milk in his direction to dunk it with a bit of amusement tugging at his lip. It was as delicious as it was hideous, and it was pretty scary looking, prompting him to refrain from any Nightmare Before Christmas jokes and fill the silence with a generally bland statement. "The roads are getting bad."

"Thinking of leaving already?" He glanced down at her, wide blue eyes staring out in wonder at the falling snow with a dreamy expression on her face. "I think it's beautiful."

"It is."

A light flush tinted her highlighted cheekbones when she noticed him staring shamelessly, and she set her cup down and dusted the crumbs off her hands. "Dance with me."

"I don't dance."

"You don't eat sugar or pancakes, you don't dance, come on Khai. For me? At least once before you go?" He swallowed the last sugary bite of the cookie and glanced behind him. Mamoru and Usagi were slow dancing to an elegant violin and piano rendition of Silent Night, so lost in their own little world that they didn't seem to hear Nigel and Makoto screaming at each other over their video game. Her fingers laced with his again, and he found himself pulled to the opposite end of the living room where there weren't so many people. Most were too enthralled by the heated spectacle of Nigel getting his ass kicked in Super Smash Bros or cutting the night short due to the snowstorm.

"Fine, one dance. For you." He agreed when her arms laced around his neck, her body pressing against his, watching him intently through thick black lashes framed by golden fringe, and they began to sway. "You really had my number, this whole time?"

Mina deflated in his arms, her head falling forward to the center of his chest in defeat. "Don't play on my insecurities Mister, I didn't want to just presumptively call your office in case you decided you'd prefer someone more... put together. Plus you said you were so busy and-"

"I made it quite clear that I wanted to see you again. I would have made the time." He lifted her chin with his fingers so she'd look back up at him, but it wasn't until he tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her tightly against him that her eyes would dare meet his own regardless of how they scolded her. "When it's important, I always do."

"Fair enough." She spoke generically, in a tone not unlike their very first conversation. Guarded and feeling him out like it was some form of test.

"Maybe I need to remind you."

He watched her eyes rove over his face, almost daring him by lingering on his mouth before locking with his again, whispering. "Maybe you should."

"Only if you want me to." He purred in return, pushing the ball back into her court, something that amused her as much as it frustrated her.

"Don't forget, you didn't ask for my number either, this is partially on you for keeping a girl waiting on her birthday."

"Do I get no credit for trying?" Mina grinned at this and bit her lip when his hands slipped down the slope of her back, then upward under her hair where his fingers could play with the zipper on her dress and trace up her spine between her shoulder blades. "If anything, I should make you pay for holding out on me."

She made a pleased humming sound in her throat, arching her back under his touch to press her chest more firmly into his own, seeming to relent to his touch for the moment. "You're here now, I'll give you all of the credit you want if you pretend I'm still wearing that mistletoe. You can make me pay for the rest later."

"Oh, and what is this?" Zaki stood off to the side, arms crossed with a finger tapping against his glass of wine as though he'd stumbled on something juicy and decided to interrupt the moment before their lips could even touch. They all knew Khai had been less than friendly or social the past few months for reasons he'd kept to himself, so he supposed one of them noticing the girl tucked intimately in his arms would have raised some questions. Silently, he cursed his curly haired friend and cleared his throat to maintain his cool demeanor.

"Zaki, meet Mina. She's one of Usagi's friends."

He took a drink of his wine, his cat-like green eyes looking her up and down in a clearly judgemental assessment. Mina of course, slipped her hands to rest on his chest with a warm smile toward his otherwise abrasive friend like he hadn't just interrupted an intimate moment. Zaki was always a bit protective of him for some reason, so all Khai could do was warn him with his eyes to be nice. "It's so nice to meet you, Zaki. I guess we'll be seeing each other more with the wedding coming up."

"I suppose we will." His lips curled just slightly on one side and Zaki turned to leave, pausing to address Khai. "You could do worse."

He deflated a breath and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling when Zaki walked off to join the crowd while Mina huffed at his retreating back. Khai couldn't help but chuckle at the face she made. "Well. I think he likes you."

"Really?"

"Probably not. Zaki doesn't like anyone except for me, Mamoru, Jeison, and only sometimes Nigel since he insists on pestering him to death."

"Well, he seems to be okay with my friend Ami too." Mina nodded toward his friend who stood beside that blue haired girl he recognized from the hospital Mamoru worked at, watching the video game shenanigans taking place and discreetly entwining his fingers with the girl's while he sipped his wine. Khai smirked and gazed back at the grinning woman in his arms as she nestled in close again.

"Yeah, I guess so." Khai ran his fingers through some of the silken hair that fell down to the small of her back, leaning to press his forehead against hers. "I should get going soon, but I'm going to need your number if I'm going to repay you for lost time."

He'd planned to move away, but Mina pulled him closer, tightening her arms around his neck. "Do you have to go? We only just found each other again."

Khai chuckled softly, causing her breath to catch when he brushed his nose against hers. He could almost feel the tension between their lips as they almost touched and his fingers sought the soft skin of her back. The red dress she wore became frustrating regardless of how unfairly well she wore it. "Well it looks like Jeison snuck out with your friend, Usagi and Mamoru have disappeared so I can imagine they are probably wanting some privacy. If I were in a hurry I would have left an hour ago, but I guess I was hoping...What did you have in mind?"

"Depends. What do you have planned for Christmas?"

* * *

"No plans." He admitted quietly, and Mina realized they'd been hiding practically behind the tree while the rest of the guests left due to the weather or the late hour. Ami and his friend Zak had joined Nigel and Makoto in a game of Smash Brothers, and Rei was supposed to be her ride home but apparently had other plans that involved Jeison. It didn't matter because regardless, she couldn't stand the thought of Khai spending Christmas alone when they had only just found each other again. Convenient that she'd be alone too, and didn't want to be.

"Spend it with me?"

Khai pulled back to search her eyes in that unreadable way he had about him, and he nodded without a word but spoke with his hands the way they would trace her curves or seek her skin. He hadn't stopped touching her since the kitchen, and Mina was in no hurry to escape the sensuous and intimate manner he had with his hands, finding herself in a rush to get back to them when she found herself occupied with anyone else. "No more avoiding the personal or mundane."

"Okay." She agreed, watching the bob of his Adam's apple when he swallowed, drifting down to the skin exposed through his slightly open shirt. Her hands followed her eyes, snaking around his waist under his suit jacket. "I'll be as intimate as you want me to be."

"I'll hold you to it."

"Well," Mina began, feeling him tense in her arms when she reached into his back pocket to grab his cell phone. She clicked on the screen and held it up for him to unlock it. "I may have your office number, but I don't have your cell, and I'm not calling you to talk to your secretary. Ball's in your court."

"Fair enough." Khai smirked and entered his code, allowing her to access his contacts which other than the vast phone numbers flagged for business purpose, were surprisingly slim. So she took a quick selfie, added her number to his favorite contacts, and handed it back to him. "All that's left to ask for the moment, is if you'd like to come back to my place? I live close."

"I'd like that." Mina curled her lips and took a step away, trying to pull him in with her eyes. "I'm going to go grab my coat-"

They both paused in wide eyed, horrific realization that Mamoru's bed had been the coat closet, and both Mamoru and Usagi were very much locked inside that room doing exactly what most newly engaged couples do. Khai cleared his throat and began patting his pockets. "Well I have my car since I came from the office but no keys to my apartment."

"And I… have the keys to my apartment but I'm going to freeze to death." Mina laughed a little nervously about the prospect of him coming over to her place, but it was better than the alternative of making the long walk home in the snow without her coat since Rei had been her ride. She'd carried a small crossbody purse with her solely for the purpose of keeping her keys, phone, and spare lipstick. Suddenly all too glad she didn't keep it with her coat. "So my place."

"It appears so" He agreed with the slightest quirk of his lip. His fingers slipped to the small of her back, carefully guiding her toward the door with a watchful eye so they could both sneak out the door and into the hallway before anyone could see them leave together.

There was no matter of shame, not for her, and certainly not for him the way he'd ravaged and practically fucked her in Mamoru's kitchen, something her heart hadn't quite yet settled down from. Mina was inclined to agree that even she wasn't ready to answer questions to anyone about how they met or what they meant to each other. They had yet to figure that out for themselves, but in the moment it was exciting to have such a secret, such private and intense chemistry with someone, and now there was time to explore it.

Mina giggled when his large warm hand enveloped hers and Khai pulled her into the elevator. The steel doors whirled shut and he held her there under his intense gaze while he shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, pulling her in, filling her senses with a familiar spicy and cool scent of cologne and soap. He wrapped it tightly around her like a cape, holding it closed to keep her warm while the elevator began to descend and as Mina gazed up into his unfairly beautiful eyes, feeling the fall that was certainly more than mechanical.

The elevator door dinged open and Khai kept his hand firm on her back to lead her while she pulled the thin blazer around her shoulders and braced herself for the first blast of wintery air when the doors of the building slid open to a perfect silent night. Snow still fell in fluttery showers of diamond dust and blanketed Tokyo with a pure and sparkling moonlight white, each breath billowing into the night as Khai walked her briskly toward his car. "You have your car keys?"

In response, he entered a code on a very small keypad on the door to an exceedingly expensive sports car, not suited for winter driving in the least, but he opened the passenger door for her and stepped aside for her to slip onto the freezing leather seat. "No keys needed."

Mina shivered and pulled the thin suit jacket tighter around her shoulders, dipping her nose down into it to inhale the scent and save her poor nose from freezing off. There was a screen, and so many knobs and buttons in this car that she almost thought she'd gotten into the Batmobile. Khai slipped into the driver's seat beside her, turning the car on with the press of a button, proceeding to flip on the heated seats, and turn up the heat with a visible shiver of his own.

"Thank you for the jacket." She said, watching while he rubbed his hands together for warmth while they waited for the windshield wipers to clear the snow gathered on the glass. He'd told her before how much he hated the cold, which was why normally he'd be barely tolerating his Step Father to spend the Winter in Dubai.

"You're worse off than me." He shot her a soul melting smirk, chuckling at her chattering teeth. "Where to?"

He let her plug her address into his GPS, and with a quickness Khai pulled out of the parking lot, gesturing toward another apartment building just a block away from where he lived, except of course he didn't have the key. Driving was slow, so Mina took the time to admire his profile flickering under the street lights while he kept a hard lock on the road with his eyes.

"I read that book last night." She admitted, shifting just slightly toward him in the seat. "I get it. I do think I understand you better but I wanted to ask you something about it."

"You read The Art of War, last night?" His brow raised, but he didn't move his eyes from the poorly plowed roads but unwrapped a peppermint candy he'd snagged at the party with one hand and popped it into his mouth, extending another to her. "As in, you read the entire thing in one night?"

"Don't sound so surprised." Mina smiled, biting her lip while unwrapping the candy and placing it on her tongue, discarding the wrapper into her small handbag.

His lip twitched as if he fought a smile. "Okay, what did you want to ask me?"

"If you approach everything like a battle, with perfect discipline, guard always up, don't you find yourself denying things you want? Things that might be good for you? I'm guilty of it too I guess but," At this she placed a wary hand on his thigh, feeling the muscle tense beneath her palm but he didn't tell her to stop, so she squeezed. "Don't you get tired of wanting?"

"I play things safe is all. I know what I'm walking into before I move forward. I understand how to keep things in my favor so if I need to, I can come out on top." Khai stopped her hand from trailing further inward on his thigh, lacing his fingers with hers instead. "Not everything is a fight, but it's best to be prepared for one."

"Mm, I like to be prepared too." She stated, turning her head to watch the snow blur passed the window through the dark while she savored the sweet peppermint candy of the warmth of his hand seeping into her palm.

It was the one night of the year that the city was so quiet, and mostly dark. The car was irritatingly silent aside from the occasional command from the GPS as Khai navigated through the snowy streets, but she'd catch him sneaking glances over at her under the streetlights as they passed while his thumb slowly traced absent circles on the back of her hand.

Such a simple and innocent motion that sent her heart racing, and stomach alive with butterflies. Mina told herself that the dull ache still raging between her thighs was nothing more than a lingering remnant of all that want and longing springing forward full force the moment she saw him again and combusting like a gas leak in the kitchen. Surely she wasn't so affected by the sweet but chaste motion of his thumb, except she couldn't stop imagining him touching her this way somewhere else.

There was something calculated, different about it from the night they met that was no less potent than their previously impatient thirst but restrained. Mina had never been a patient woman, and she felt that thirst just as vividly as she had back at that restaurant two months ago. The careful shift of his eyes, the methodical touch of his fingers showed her a restraint that hadn't been there that night, or even back in the kitchen, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was nervous or plotting. The mystery of Khai was all locked away in his stoicism and silence. It was enough that he could so easily unravel her with the slightest touch or glance, the anticipation of it all that Mina didn't know what he was thinking or feeling until he conveyed it in a subtle manner that made any of his actions so much more intense.

His fingers slid slowly over her palm when his hand released hers, pulling carefully into an unplowed spot near her apartment, proving a point with the subtle brush of his hand when he stole her away from her thoughts. Mina frowned at the prospect of leaving the warm leather seat and well heated car, a nervous pit forming among the anticipation boiling inside of her. She'd never brought a guy back to her place before.

"I can just drop you off if you'd prefer. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Her eyes snapped through the darkness at him, meeting the kind of sincerity in his beautiful grey eyes that reminded her that somehow this was different. Sweet as his caution was, the idea of Khai spending the rest of his Christmas Eve locked out of his apartment, or being alone on Christmas became unbearable.

"Who else is going to keep me warm tonight?"

"Fair enough." Mina swore she saw the hint of a smile on his lips when he spoke, pressing the button once more to cut the engine. Cold seeped into the small car almost immediately save the lingering warmth from the seat, so she gathered her small handbag, pulled his blazer tight around her shoulders and followed suit when Khai got out of the car.

She lifted her face to gaze up into the dark sky while fat snowflakes caught in her hair and melted on her cheek, smiling when after a pause to grab his laptop bag Khai took her hand. His lips collided with hers when she turned to scold him that she would not be allowing him to work on Christmas, even if she understood the sentiment of not wanting to leave his computer in the freezing cold. It was light, sweet with a frosted taste of snow, and like every time he kissed her, Mina immediately forgot every word of the English language or that she had intended to say anything in the first place. Their breath mingled and lifted into the icy air when they parted with locked eyes. She smiled, squeezed his hand, and impatiently began pulling him toward the warmth of her building.

She rented the tiniest space above a shopping strip, a little embarrassing in comparison to the posh complex of luxury flats he'd pointed out on the way. Like Mamoru, Khai lived on the far nicer side of town, though if asked, Mina would hands down say she lived in the most charming. It was older, more artisan and historic with great shopping and only a short distance to Hikawa Shrine where Rei lived and only a few blocks away from Makoto's charming little cafe. Her heart was pounding as she slipped her key into the lock, stepping into the darkness of her apartment with a deep breath, hoping the place wasn't a disaster.

Casually, she tossed her keys onto a small glass table by the entrance with an ear jarring clatter, clicking on a small lamp that cast a dim atmospheric glow into the small space. She was all too aware of him behind her, the apartment feeling much smaller once she heard Khai close the door behind them and flip the lock. Bending to kiss her cheek, he carefully pulled the blazer from her shoulders, and by the way his grey eyes took her in he might as well have stripped her bare. "Want to give me the grand tour?"

"There isn't much to see." Mina admitted with a wry look, freezing in place at the sound of his voice, deep and husky in her ear.

"Humor me."

Mina shot him a look, a coy smile and took the jacket from his hands. With a few steps, she entered the tiny dining nook between the entrance and the kitchen, hanging the blazer on a hook along with the rest of her jackets, scarves, and spare purses. Otherwise, the only other fixture in the small space was a cafe table for two adorned with some fake glittery red poinsettias for the season. "Well, this would be the dining room, elegant I know."

"Charming." He commented, still rooted by the door with his hands in his pockets, watching her move slowly through the space with the hint of a smile in his eyes.

The dining room lead into the kitchen, which was more like the size of a short hallway, that had an opening with a view to the living room between the cabinets and countertop where the sink was. Tiny, but full of colorful hand towels and kitschy mugs that Mina thought were charming. She giggled despite the few dishes left in the sink from the morning and made a dramatic gesture likened to one of those game show assistants in a loud sparkly dress. "Kitchen is through here, and it's not much but obviously that is the living room."

"I like it." Her breath caught, feeling his fingers trail down her arms, her back meeting his chest when he moved even closer, her heart thudding hard against her ribcage as he followed her deeper into the living room. She liked to consider her decor something along the lines of shabby chic, and the hardwood and exposed brick helped that along, but the space was so small she only had a loveseat for two with a raised bay window behind it and a magazine cluttered glass coffee table. There was still a tiny bookshelf under her wall mounted TV, mostly housing her expansive music selection, trashy manga, and favorite romance novels but that was about it with the exception of some nicknacks and cute pieces of art. She felt his fingers squeeze into her hips to place her flush against his chest, roaming his hands up the curves of her sides and ribcage.

Mina turned in his arms, placing her palms on his chest with a meek little shrug and smiled. "It's a little messy, but it's home."

"It suits you." Khai coughed a little, frowning at the varying implications his reply had. Mina figured that this must be what it was like when he was flustered, the tensing of his lips and probably the only occasion so far where he averted his eyes from hers."You know what I mean."

"I think I do." She fought the urge to laugh and lowered her voice to mock him. "But you're always so serious, it's hard to tell sometimes."

Khai rolled his eyes, making up for his mild awkwardness with a surprisingly sexy glare. His eyes softened and Mina leaned into his touch when he palmed her cheek. "You know most of the mundane details about me now, my job, my friends…"

"Your battle tactics." She interjected, pressing her lips to the pad of his thumb when it ran gently across her bottom lip.

"Even so, I need you to know that I would never say or do anything to make you feel bad. Not on purpose."

"I know." Mina met his eyes with purpose, not needing to search for his sincerity too hard. It was one of the few times she'd been able to read the emotions in them. She found it a little harder to breathe, her heart beating rapidly. She felt safe with him. "Don't ask me how I know, but I do. You wouldn't hurt me, not on purpose."

She lifted her chin at the command of his fingers as he bent to catch her lips with his. It was something warm and slow that she inhaled deeply, sweet when his palm cupped her cheek. It was different now, patient and real because he was no longer just some beautiful stranger, and she wanted to disappear inside of the warmth that came when his lips moved skillfully with her own. It spilled into the grey of his eyes when they parted and instead of letting the heat of it all carry them away as it was known to, Khai brushed his thumb over her cheek and gestured with his eyes toward a small table near her TV housing an equally tiny tree. "It's almost midnight, what do you say we light the tree?"

She could tell he said it more for her than himself, but Mina couldn't help but smile at the suggestion. "I should make some hot chocolate first."

Khai immediately groaned, bringing a hand to his stomach with a pleading look. "I'm not sure I can handle it."

"Fiiiiine. I have some ginger tea if you'd prefer that. It might help." The muscles of his stomach tensed under her fingers when she slipped her hands down his chest to rest low on his abdomen, watching the bob of his throat when he swallowed while she reveled in the feeling of each defined muscle under her fingers through the fabric.

"I guess this is a perfect time to tell you that ginger is my favorite tea. Thank you."

Mina beamed, feeling somehow more at ease with each new tiny detail he divulged about himself down to these little things that were somehow more meaningful, more personal, that revealed more and more common ground. "It's mine too, but hot chocolate is the tradition, so tea for you and more chocolate for me." In a nervous habit, she bit her bottom lip before stepping away from this game of restraint they seemed to be playing, smiling while she headed back toward the kitchen with a wave of her hand. "Make yourself at home."

Mina was vaguely aware of Khai moving slowly around her apartment through the space between the cabinets and sink while she prepared her little orange kettle by the dim light above her stove. He was assessing the art on her walls, her collection of random CDs, smutty reading selection, and the few nick-knacks she kept. To distract herself, Mina began rummaging through her cabinets in search of a less decorative mug for him, opting for a plain white mug with a large, simple red heart on it. Being Christmas and all, Mina broke into the cute container of fancy hot chocolate Usagi had given her and began searching the other cabinets for the tea with a muttered reminder to get better organized in the new year. In the background, the sounds of romantic violin and piano music wafted softly on the air. Mina recognized it immediately as the duette album Michiru had recorded with Haruka the year they got married, and couldn't help but smile about his choice.

"Hey, Khai," She called, the already small kitchen becoming much tinier when he entered the small space, lingering in the entrance. Mina scowled up at the top shelf where Makoto had placed the ginger tea last time she was over, playing nurse while she'd been sick. Or hungover. "Not to play a damsel in distress, but my Amazonian friend apparently forgets that not everyone is ten feet tall-"

He was already behind her, his proximity alone interrupting her thought with his chest brushing her back as he reached over her head to select the white ceramic container generically labeled 'Tea.' A smirk tugged at his lips when she turned around to accept it, making sure to brush her fingers over his en route to place it on the counter. He was so close she could smell the peppermint on his breath, and against the black fabric of his shirt, his hair looked like freshly fallen snow, a gentle teasing in his stormy eyes. "And what would you have done if I wasn't here?"

Mina giggled, leaning back against the counter to gaze up at him in blatant admiration. "I would have climbed this counter like a savage and cursed Makoto's name, but I didn't feel like it was very lady-like in this short dress, and I could have been hurt in these heels getting back down. I guess I'm lucky my hero was here." She lifted her chin a bit more to brush her nose against his, curling her fingers into his shirt to pull him ever so slightly closer. "How can I ever repay him?"

"I'm sure we can come up with some sort of arrangement." Mina inhaled a breath through her lips, feeling his fingers lightly brushing her thighs between the short skirt and the striped stockings that came up over her knees. It was so restrained, the way he touched her, opting to rest his hands on her hips, the self-restraint very apparent in his eyes.

"What do you want?" She found herself whispering, sifting her fingers through his silver locks and curling them around the back of his neck to pull Khai close enough to brush her tongue against his upper lip. If he didn't kiss her, and really _kiss_ her, she thought she might combust. Until they both did.

"I think you know what I want." He practically growled, lifting Mina onto the counter while she sank and drowned into his ravenous mouth, her desirous moan stifled by his insistent tongue. All at once it was as if they'd just met, her fingers in his hair, leading his hand from the cheek resting in his palm down her chest to cup her breast. Her legs wound around his hips, head thrown back against one of the cabinets as his mouth, hot and desperate moved down her neck, kissing, tasting, pulling in. His hands ran up her thighs where her skit had ridden up around her hips, fingers squeezing the fleshy muscle as he whispered against her fevered skin. "I want more."

Mina gripped his shirt to pull his lips back to hers, flexing her hips into his and drinking in his guttural groan when his groin rubbed intentionally into the apex of her thighs. Clothes needed to go. Of course, the moment she'd managed to get two more buttons open on his shirt, there was an ear blistering squeal that sounded off just beside them. She jumped initially, rolling her eyes with a groan of frustration and accidentally slamming her head back against the cabinet with a bit too much force. "Ow…."

Khai chuckled, reaching to pull the kettle from the burner and turn it off, slipping his fingers through her hair to caress where she hit her head. Mina pouted rather visibly, grateful, but pleading with her eyes while both of them tried to catch their breath. She felt her insides melt at the half smile that tugged at the corner of his lips revealing that dimple in his cheek, and there was a gentle knowingness in his eyes that understood her apparent frustration. His own was seated much lower, bulging against his unforgiving slacks. Khai's hand slipped back down to cup her cheek, glancing briefly at the clock on the stove. "I do want more, after tonight. I don't want this to be all we have."

"Khai…" He cut her off with another kiss, slowly withdrawing, his smirk turning all the more deviant with that gleam in his eye.

"Think of it as payback."

"Payback?" Her brow raised and Mina was certain her pouting intensified as Khai stepped away from her to exit back into the living room. He chuckled at this while she slipped slowly back down off the counter and began the task of straightening out her skirt.

"You should have called."

She groaned loudly, ignoring the first real, audible laugh she'd ever heard from him and pretended it wasn't charming. He couldn't see her grin as she poured the hot water into mugs to steep his tea while she mixed her hot chocolate and added marshmallows to the tune of the romantic violin that had begun to sound more like her pity party. It was only a couple of minutes till midnight, and Mina began to wonder if he'd planned the interruption, but if the quivering in his hands had been anything to go by it was likely just happenstance. She hadn't noticed how weak her knees were until she tried following him into the living room with the two steaming mugs in her hands.

"Want to do the honors?" Mina stepped passed him to place the mugs on the coffee table, nestling on the loveseat to remove her somewhat painful heels. Khai turned out the light and checked his watch, letting her countdown to midnight before he pressed the switch that turned on the lights for her miniature fiber optic tree. She and Makoto had made all kinds of small ornaments for the thing over the years, and while it was bittersweet to break their many traditions, it felt nice to possibly make new ones.

He joined her on the loveseat, following suit to remove his shoes before falling back against the cushion with an almost relieved sigh. Mina watched the faint light of a snowy winters night reflect in his silver hair from the window behind them while the dim multi-colored light shifted by the tree casting a dream-like quality throughout the small living space. He handed her her mug, taking his for himself before sitting back, seeming to finally relax. "You know in my country, Christmas isn't commonly celebrated. It is a time of preparation for the New Year in Istanbul, which is my favorite holiday. My Mother only recently took to decorating and celebrating Christmas when she moved to Dubai."

"I hadn't thought about it." She replied honestly, watching the colors on her meager tree shift and change, letting the heat seep into her palms through her festive ceramic mug. "I suppose that does make sense. What's your favorite part of New Years?"

Khai watched her a moment while she sipped the chocolaty sweet drink. It reminded her of the restaurant, the way he appeared so aloof but so attentive. "New beginnings. What's your favorite part about Christmas?"

Mina felt the heat rise to her cheeks, shifting toward him to curl her legs beneath her, nestling the warm drink in her lap. "Makoto is the only other one of my friends that doesn't have any family, so we made a pact to spend it together every year. We would decorate cookies and watch sappy romantic holiday movies, light the tree at midnight with hot chocolate and exchange gifts. Well, she met Nigel as you know, and the rest is history. I'm just so glad she's happy."

She hadn't realized how quiet her voice had gotten, how distant. Khai seemed to remember something then, setting his mug down after a long drink of his tea.

"That reminds me." Mina blinked, watching him stand and clear the room in a few steps to rummage through his laptop bag. When he returned there was an aged, worn envelope in his hand which he extended to her as he sat back down. "I got this for your birthday actually, but seeing as you didn't contact me, I held onto them with the hope our paths would cross again. It's only fitting that it's now. Merry Christmas, Mina."

Shooting Khai a teasing glare, Mina took the envelope and opened the loose flap, pulling out two insanely good, long sold out tickets for Dreamcatcher and immediately setting down her hot chocolate before she dumped it everywhere. "I… but you...you said you hate this kind of music…"

"Well, since I bored you to death that night, and that morning ended so abruptly, I figured I had better give you an exciting date. I can stomach the music, expand my horizons a little if it means that I get to see you happy."

"Khai... oh my gosh, THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Mina propelled forward and tackled him into the cushion behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his hair, inhaling that desert night scent of spices and cool waters and trying not to freak out like the total fangirl she was, or get emotional. Heck, she was grateful that he even thought of her at all, everything becoming far more real with the notion that he had been planning for a future date. That as she held him and his arms enveloped her, the lines between them blurred a bit more intimately and Mina realized she was more grateful for his time. The time he spent thinking about her and searching for her, the time he'd set aside for her, on a date in their future to do something she knew he normally wouldn't want to do, for her. "Thank you for spending Christmas with me."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"OH! That reminds me!" She gingerly placed the envelope on the table, hopping off the couch and out of his arms leaving Khai confused by the outburst behind her. There was a singular present wrapped under her tree, easy to overlook if you weren't searching for it, and Mina clutched it to her chest, and rushed back to the loveseat, falling on her knees in the cushions beside him, beaming. "Mine isn't quite as extravagant, but I thought of you." Something softer passed behind his eyes which mirrored in her voice as she placed the package gently in his hands. "I thought about you a lot."

He eyeballed the thing a moment, taking it and of course, being so careful not to tear the paper when he unwrapped the gift. It was a special, leatherbound edition of 'The Art of War,' and the utterly heart melting smile that tugged at his lips made Mina immediately regret not calling, or storming that closed office building until she found him. With a smile like that, there was no way she'd stand a chance against a secret weapon like that. "It's funny to me that you chose this because I believe the housekeeper at Hotel Century thought my copy was garbage and threw it out, or it got lost in the move. I haven't seen it since that morning. Thank you."

"To be fair, yours looked like it had taken enough abuse. It was probably begging for a swift death. I thought a leather-bound one might be harder for you to mangle so much."

"Challenge accepted."

Mina giggled into another long sip of the warm, sweet chocolatey drink when his smile broadened and she felt heat flare into her face, but she kept his eyes locked with hers because how dare he have the audacity to make her blush. "How is your stomach?"

"I think I'll survive." Khai raised his mug and took a drink himself, placing the book on the coffee table beside it. Silence hung thick and warm in the air, and she gazed with contentment out the window while the world continued to become softly blanketed with snow, humming to the melody of the violin harmony to one of her favorite songs. It was the most beautiful Christmas they'd gotten in a while, and while Mina wasn't particularly fond of the cold herself, she loved the way the snow looked. Khai had been watching her, the smile fading from his lips but not his eyes and the back of his hand trailed down her chilled arm, the soft touch gathering her attention. "Are you cold?"

"Only a little. My apartment doesn't stay too warm thanks to the way my bedroom is set up." She flushed with the realization that she hadn't shown him the rest of the house. Along the same wall to the kitchen, there were two more doors. Khai was a smart man so she figured he could deduce which one was which, but Mina gestured toward her bedroom door anyway. "My room has french doors for windows. They don't go anywhere, and they're charming until it's cold outside. Keeps the place drafty but warm enough. At least there's a private entrance to the bathroom too. That's the other door if you need it."

"I see." He offered, but she noticed he didn't seem to be paying much attention to what she was saying. Instead, he studied her, his pale eyes addressing her hair that had fallen over her shoulder, and for a moment she thought maybe some chocolate or marshmallow had gathered at the corner of her lips until his stare fixed into her own. Wordlessly, Khai reached for her by wrapping a hand around her waist, urging Mina onto his lap so she straddled his thighs. She giggled, looking down at his mostly serious expression while he rubbed his hands up and down her goosebumped arms. "I did promise to keep you warm."

"I feel better already." She mused while his arms constricted and pulled her against his broad chest and Mina felt warm, she lost herself in his ashen eyes and felt safe. Her fingers slipped under his partially opened shirt just to touch his smooth skin, warm to the touch yet the contact raised goosebumps along the flesh. Khai drew in a breath, slow and deep, but not unnoticed by Mina who felt the same every time he so much as looked at her. Affected by his every touch or glance, part of her undoing the night they met, feeding her bold and reckless actions. She shifted up higher on his thighs until her skirt rode up and her core nestled just at his groin, watching his jaw clench and set, and his grey eyes darken.

"Mina I…" She pressed her finger against his lips to hush him and leaned forward until her forehead rested on his.

"This isn't all we have Khai, and there is plenty of time for the rest. If you want." Her eyes darted between his, shifting her touch along the strong line of his jaw. "I just don't think I can be near you and not want you. It's intense. It's scary." She admitted quietly, honestly. Peering with wide and unwavering blue eyes into his grey ones, Mina continued what she started back in the kitchen. "I know you can feel it too."

Lightly, she fluttered her lips against his, hands sliding down his chest to very slowly keep working at the buttons of his shirt. She gasped into him, parting her lips with a demanding tongue to taste him further, pulling a ragged breath from his lips when her task was done and she could slide her hands up along the groves and muscles of his stomach and chest. He could have scalded her with the look in his eyes when they parted, and Khai nipped her bottom lip between his teeth as if to prove his point.

"And I knew from the moment I saw you that I wanted you." Mina's eyes rolled as his lips caressed and moved back toward her ear. She bit her lip hard and buried her fingers into thick strands of silver, rolling her hips into his just to feel the heat of his breathing against the lobe. "I knew I'd crave the way you taste, the smell of your perfume…I knew I needed to know you" The soft whimper escaped her lips without her permission when Khai lapped his tongue lightly along her neck, sucking lightly at that spot just below her ear that made her crazy. "You took me off guard, and I haven't found my footing since."

He inhaled a sharp breath when Mina ground against him, sliding his hands up her thighs beyond her stockings to caress her ass and hips with kneading fingers. Humming her approval, she rubbed herself against him again, feeling the beginnings of his arousal brush against her through her flimsy underwear with a knowing smirk. "Good to know I'm not the only one falling."

Khai groaned as she moved again, something hopeful and almost pleading passing behind those steely eyes before she could pull him into a deep and purposeful kiss, curling her fingers through his hair, writhing her sodden heat into his tenting slacks in search relief that wouldn't come. She met his gaze with furrowed brows, gasping at the feeling of him between her legs, his breath against her neck when she tilted her head back in an invitation he gladly accepted.

Mina was only vaguely aware of her dress loosening around her shoulders when he slowly lowered the zipper. She was too busy reeling from his sinful mouth probably leaving purple marks down her neck, too busy trying to breathe through her gasping and moaning that she'd long lost control of. Khai made it hard though, the way he drew her in, running his fingertips up her spine so lightly between the zipper, brushing the backs of her shoulder blades until the straps slipped over her shoulders.

She gracefully slinked backward from the warmth of his lap to stand in front of him, letting the cooler air wash over her skin as the dress flittered to the floor. Khai touched her with his eyes the way he slowly took her in as though it was the first time seeing her, roving over her body with an intensity that made her ache. Mina was glad she'd had the foresight to put on the adorable white lace underwear set with red bows on it for the Christmas party because it matched her candy cane kiss costume and it looked killer, and festive, with those striped thigh highs. She was quickly learning that the stockings really seemed to do it for him. Khai licked his lips and leaned forward, bringing her back toward him to trace the curve of her sides and hips with his hands before he pulled Mina back onto his lap.

She gazed down into his deepened grey eyes a moment, biting her lip when his hands gathered her breasts with a light squeeze, a low growl rumbling in his throat when she rocked herself forward onto his cock, fully strained against his slacks. A sharp gasp breathed between her lips when her clit met the throbbing flesh through too many layers of fabric, and it was too much for her to handle any longer. Mina wove her fingers into his hair, moving forward to slam her lips over his, moaning louder when his tongue brushed hers, the fingers of both of his hands curling into the flesh of her ass to pull her against his erection.

Soon, she was writhing, whimpering helplessly into his mouth with each gentle gyration that took her one step closer to ruining his slacks with how wet he was making her with his hands alone. Khai sat forward just slightly, taking a bit of the pressure off of himself and forcing another thoughtless moan from her when his mouth traveled toward her neck to pull in her thundering pulse. His fingers sifted through her hair, pulling it to one side, her cute lacy bra loosening around her chest when he managed to get the clasps undone.

Mina sat back, relishing the burning heat of his eyes before his fingers hooked into the straps, sliding them down her arms to free her breasts. His mouth was starved against her skin, kissing, tasting, sucking the skin down her neck and chest as the bra came away from her feverish skin to tighten and pebble in the cooler air. Khai tossed it to the cushion beside them, lips swollen and breathless while she wet her lips, releasing his hair to slide her hands down his chest, pushing the pillowy roundness of her chest together with purpose while she worked on the buckle of his belt with a cunning smirk.

"You have the most beautiful body." He uttered breathily, shifting his hips while Mina pulled the belt from around his waist only to drop it on the floor with a soft clinking sound on the rug. He physically shuttered when her hand cupped his groin, tight and hot to the touch, it rattled dangerously from his lips against her own. When she went to relieve him from some of that pressure, Khai grabbed her wrists before she could so much as unbutton his slacks, leaning her back so her hands supported her weight on his knees.

"What are you waiting for?" Mina could scarcely gasp the way he lifted her breasts to his mouth, tongue lapping and circling over the sensitive pink peaks forced upward by her position. Her hands tensed further on his legs, holding on for dear life while he sought to test her very limited patience. Her skin on fire, her every cell screaming with want, begging for more.

"In a hurry?" He whispered low between the valley of her breasts, bringing a large hand over her hip, dipping his thumb beneath the elastic of her underwear. Mina canted her hips the best she could, inhaling sharply when his thumb dipped low enough, parting her already drenched folds to firmly circle her clit. "That what you wanted?"

"I want…." The thought died with the sharp bite of pleasure that she felt quiver in her thighs, a breathless moan spilling from her lips like her hair that tumbled toward the floor in curtains of gold as she threw her head back, his thumb dipping lower toward her entrance to gather from the pooling moisture, slipping forward to continue making slow circles around the tight bundle of nerves that Mina tried to quicken with the movement of her hips.

Khai urged her to sit up, she hadn't realized how much her arms were shaking from holding up her weight, but his thumb was still there, pressing and rubbing her slowly, firmly, when he pulled her into a deep kiss. It was slow, almost in tandem with the motions around her clit currently inching her toward a madness that Mina wasn't quite prepared for. She whimpered when he stopped, slipping his hand up around the curve of her waist, those familiarly dark and stormy eyes meeting hers to whisper a very deep, very sexy: "Tell me what you want."

Mina slid back off of his hips to stand very slowly, not relieving him from the full-on desire in her eyes when she took his hands in hers and pulled him to his feet. Her hands roved over his stomach, his chest, slipping under his loose shirt to slowly pull it from his strong arms and Khai shrugged from it, let it fall nearly silently to the floor behind him without breaking his gaze from hers. The look in his eyes was damn near predatory, somehow adding a thickness to the air that weighed on her chest and stole her breath in anticipation of what was to come.

His skin was warm, smooth to the touch, a beautiful creamy tan shade she couldn't help but admire against her admittingly pale complexion in her journey to feel back up his chest, over his shoulders, and down his arms to take his much larger hands in hers. Mina lead him slowly backward toward her room, lips curled in a teasing smirk at his apparent hunger blazing in his darkened eyes and bulging in his pants when she realized he couldn't stop looking at her. Her thigh highs were a bit mussed, one falling lower than the other, her hair probably wild the way his fingers had been weaving through it, a symptom of her swollen, well kissed lips and skin marked with purple bruises.

Her back hit the cool surface of the bedroom door, her breasts pressing into the firm wall of his chest when Khai took their linked hands and pinned her, rough and gentle all at once the way his thumbs slid over her palms. His kiss was gentle, the soft movement of his lips against hers, tongue sweet and teasing, and so good Mina thought she'd dissolve into a giant puddle of want.

"Tell me." He demanded in soft brushes against her mouth, watching in that intense way he had about him while she wordlessly answered his command by pulling her hands from his grasp and lowering the zipper on his slacks.

"Maybe I'd rather show you." Mina whispered, wrapping her arms around him to caress his back, feeling him shiver slightly from the light fluttering of her fingers on his skin as they trailed down beneath the waistband of his slacks, forcing them down off of his hips. She felt Khai inhale when her fingers curled into the firm, cotton clad muscle of his ass, kissing her way down his torso as she slowly dropped to her knees in a confrontation of his unbelievable body.

Her fingers curled into the waistband of his slacks, already scarcely hanging from his hips, but they came down easy at her command. Khai leaned forward on his hands against the door, silver hair falling forward though she knew he was watching her as he stepped out of his pants, kicking them gently behind him while Mina traced those divets in his hips and toyed with the elastic on his very strained boxer briefs. Khai whispered her name, but she didn't listen, coming up on her knees to press her lips against his cock through the dark cotton, pulling the sexiest deep groan from him as it twitched against her mouth. She trailed her teasing kisses up the somewhat intimidating length toward his hip, cupping the softer parts with her hand to reward herself with the erotic melody of his ragged breaths and strained growls. He moaned louder when her teeth and tongue grazed the obvious head of his cock pressed hard against his hip as she rose to her feet between his arms, aggressively pulling his lips to hers.

Mina whimpered helplessly into the kiss, starving and deep, both trying to catch the air through their noses while she fumbled to the doorknob of her room. They tumbled inside clumsily, but with some sort of grace as Khai fell onto the bed with her, encumbering her body with his familiar weight pressing her into the mattress. The scent of his shampoo and spicy cologne she'd taken home with her that night, the heat of his lips and tongue against her skin like a memory she'd been longing to relive countless times over the past couple of months.

She gasped, fingers tensing in his hair when his hips rolled against hers, grinding himself into her underwear, now soaked through as a testament to her positively aching arousal because he felt _so good, _but Mina was getting increasingly more impatient with the fabric between them. Her back arched into the sensation, hips moving in time to his until he groaned against her lips, her body reeling from the loss of contact when he pulled away.

"Not so fast." Khai growled breathlessly against her neck, his mouth slowly trailing downward. Her eyes rolled, groaning frustration against her lip bitten perhaps too hard between her teeth when he pulled one of her nipples into his mouth, tongue mercilessly massaging the pebbled bud.

"Don't make me beg." She whimpered, feeling his smile against her skin, humming again when his teeth nipped at her neck. Mina wasn't above begging.

"At this rate, I'll come too fast, and that won't do." He uttered breathily into her ear.

"I don't mind." She moaned out, truly at the brink of madness herself. Mina wouldn't have cared if he came the moment he was inside of her, certain she'd fall apart just as quickly.

"I promised I'd make you pay." He planted a final kiss to her cheek and continued his slow descent down her body until he was slipping off of the bed. "I promised, I'd take my time, and if I focus on you…" Then he could calm his body down enough to outlast her, though if memory served her well enough, his stamina had been just fine back at that hotel, impressive even. "then I'll get to see you, hear you, taste you, _feel_ you come."

"Fuck…" She moaned, brows furrowed and fingers curling into the blankets under her. Khai sucked lightly on the flesh just above her hip, his own fingers slipping into the elastic of her underwear to expose her overheated, soaked flesh to the drafty air as he pulled them from her hips. One look into those expressive, deep grey eyes told her he was about to make her feel every moment of those absent two months, watching him pull the flimsy white underwear down her legs with care to not disturb her thigh-length stockings.

Eyes locked on hers, Khai ran his tongue through the opening of her damp lips once with a low groan, pulling her forward for a better angle as Mina spread her legs wider, canting her hips in invitation. He ran his fingertips along her thighs, supporting her legs on his shoulders by wrapping his arms around her legs and began to touch her, tease her with light circles around her clit that had her moaning against her bit lip to stifle some of her desperate whimperings. He swept his tongue through her folds again, adding to the gathered moisture with a low moan of his own, his breath further teasing against her wet flesh when he spoke. "I love the way you taste."

His mouth clamped and moved over her mound, sucking with merciless flicks of his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves without time for her to berate him for stalling. Some obscenity gasped from her mouth before she forgot how to form words and Mina threw her head back against the blankets. He knew what he was doing, the light teasing into an intensity that made up everything about him. Khai didn't stop her from burying her fingers into his hair, soft and thick in her fingers. He didn't stop her from moving her hips to meet the insatiable movements of his mouth. She might have watched him devour her completely if she had a mind to, but he'd stolen that the moment his tongue dipped inside of her.

Relishing the low and measured moans that rumbled through his throat and vibrated through her, the delicious noises created by his tongue lapping at her swollen center punctuated by the most exquisitely intense waves of pleasure. He could control it to some degree. Bringing her down when he felt her slipping toward the edge only to bring her back to the brink of madness until not even he could control the pleasure pulsing through her.

He didn't stop when she came, and she did so in a mixture of incoherent curses and something that sounded like his name. It came on before she was ready, all of that stimulation from his overworked mouth coming to a head, exploding and spreading through her limbs like wildfire in her blood and he kept going until she couldn't tell if she'd stopped coming or if he was somehow keeping her in a constant state of euphoria. Khai held her down while she writhed and convulsed in the throes of release, pressing on her abdomen just above her mound to keep her from moving which really only made the ordeal more intense, a fact he probably knew.

"Mercy!" Mina begged, gasping, tugging at his hair with a half desperate laugh when she found herself prey to an insatiable pleasure that was too much and not enough at the same time. She needed him inside of her to fill that want, to satisfy the ache that Khai only fueled with his generous attention. He relented and sat back on his knees to catch his breath, standing from his crouched position on the floor to finally let her touch him when she gathered enough senses to sit up and do so. Biting her lip, she gazed up into those familiar grey eyes, darkened and ravenous, as he watched her crawl on her knees toward him on the bed. Her fingers ran down the definition in his chest and stomach, not stopping when she reached the elastic of his underwear. "Are you done punishing me?"

"Are you sorry?" He quipped breathlessly, lips quirking on one side as Mina came up on her knees to be almost level with his height.

"You know I am." She whispered, gazing longingly into his eyes and tracing his lips with her fingers, reaching with a free hand to caress the strained bulge still contained in a pair of dark boxer briefs. Mina bit her lip, slipping her fingers under the elastic to slowly begin pulling them down off of his hips. "I've made you wait long enough, don't you think?"

"I would have waited longer."

"I don't want to wait anymore." Mina whispered, craning her neck to place a brief kiss to his mouth, drinking the sigh that panted against her lips as her cool fingers wrapped around the hot girth of his cock. As intended, the flesh was firm and soft, not completely void of arousal but she felt him grow harder in her palm hinting that Khai was quite done waiting as well, but it was her turn to taste him.

She lowered down on her knees, sitting on her feet and leaning forward to finish pulling his underwear down his legs until they fell to the floor. Not that she paid much attention to anything else with his heartbeat evidently pulsing in the thick length of him now freed from its cotton prison. A curse panted softly from his lips when she wrapped her fingers around the base of him, watching his jaw strain in tandem with his cock as her tongue dragged up toward the tip, so she could pull the swollen head into her mouth. Mina moaned at the taste of his salty skin, the way he grew firmer, thicker, as she began to stroke the flesh with her mouth.

"Slower." He whispered, a touch of passion he didn't normally have in his voice kissing the tone. She slowed her strokes and lifted her eyes, feeling the light touch of his fingers on her face while she delighted in the struggle to fit his sizeable length into her mouth, sliding her tongue over veins and nerves that made him twitch and pulse in her hand. Mina loved watching the tension on his brow, how he'd bite his lip sometimes like she did when it became too much. That alone had her so shamefully wet that she could feel it seep onto her thighs.

Selfishly, Mina pulled him from her mouth, placing a wet kiss on the head of his slick cock. She didn't want to get carried away with herself, thinking it would be too big of a shame if she were to ruin his promise. Taking his hand, she pulled him back onto the mattress on his knees where Khai immediately pulled her into a deep, hungry kiss. She could taste their mingled arousal on their tongues, burying her fingers into the thick silver of his hair to pull him deeper, moaning into it as they fell back on the bed together.

"Be gentle," She whispered against his neck, "I haven't… not since you."

"Same." He admitted, rolling her onto her back, surrounding her with a curtain of silver and a softer gaze that made the soft kiss to follow send her heart thundering in her throat. She brought her legs up around his lower back as Khai deepened the kiss with a pleased rumbling in his throat when her hips canted against his cock, slipping, and rubbing the thick length between her slick folds.

Mina gasped against his lips when the swollen head of him pressed against her clit, rubbing between them at the mercy of his hips. She pleaded up into his eyes with hers, forcing a throaty growl from his throat when she reached between them to position his rigid length perfectly at her entrance. Khai needed no further instruction to press into her, a careful motion of his hips that had her legs tightening around him, gasping into his neck as she pulled him into her silken depths, rolling her hips into his just to feel him fill her so completely she could scarcely breathe. When she did, it came out as a moan.

His pace was kept steady, allowing Mina to grip the back of his neck, running her lips along the rough line of his jaw, kissing down his throat to pull his pulse into her mouth. She relished the familiar spicy scent of him, the salt from his skin, and the moan it pulled from him between her own vocalized appreciations. She tried her best to move with him, letting her body stretch and acclimate to his size, as he filled her and stroked her so perfectly that she joined him in a pleasured moan, biting his earlobe in the process so she could vocalize just how incredible he felt.

Khai was definitely not a vocal lover but she enjoyed finding new buttons to push, how his hips stuttered into hers when she bit his shoulder, gasped out for more, and he shifted to deliver it. Her nails marked his back as he plunged deeper, his hands curling into the blankets beside her head while he gazed down at her in observation, breathing harshly through parted lips, just as she observed him. The lust drunk frenzy that took over was natural, full of all that time he thought they should make up for, longing stares and desperate lips, hungry for deep kisses.

Mina pushed Khai onto his back, raking her nails down his chest without missing a beat of movement, watching his normally so stoic features shift under the intensity of her control. His tense brows and unwavering grey eyes, controlled breaths panting from his parted lips as she so methodically stroked his cock into her gripping heat. She rode a little harder, trying to pull more from him with deep strokes because god he was so sinfully gorgeous, and attentive with his hands and fingers, and when he moaned it was the most erotic sound she'd ever heard.

His hips moved sharply beneath her, burying himself deeper, palming her breasts, peddled and taught despite the sweat that quickly sheened their skin. Mina bent down to kiss him, pulling him as deep as she could, rubbing her clit against his pubic bone which proved to be a mistake because she almost came right then and there. It was worth it the way he moaned louder into her mouth, cursing and digging his fingers into her ass, fucking her harder from below. Mina never knew what hit her.

As their first time, Khai sat up to cling to her, his tongue lapping a bead of sweat that had begun to trail down her neck, moaning his appreciation into her ear in the form of her own name. She could feel it building in her thighs, curling her toes long before she was ready, but she made a point to replicate his undoing from before by slowing her motions to make sure he felt every motion of her hips. He didn't stop her, but she could feel his fingers tense against her skin, a breathy curse into her ear because each long, deep stroke was a muscle trembling, drawn out wave of pleasure that was certain to destroy them both.

Her pace quickened naturally, still slow, but steady and fevered and when Khai's lips parted to speak she quickly covered his mouth, losing herself to the cresting tension that brought a new tone to her louder, pitched moans. Kissing her palm, Mina clung to him thoughtlessly, euphoria spreading to her limbs and all at once she began falling apart, pulsing violently around him until it all exploded, bringing Khai immediately along with her.

The tension on his face was so different, beautiful, when he came, all firm hands and clenched eyes when he spilled into her with sputtering hips, and she watched him fall apart in a way she didn't think he was capable of. Mina was no better the way she arched into him, gasping while her trembling limbs tried to cling to him for any sense of solidarity, only to realize that he was holding on to her all the same. They collapsed on the mattress together, boneless, breathing, and locked together by the groin all messy and beautiful.

"Wow…" He uttered, wrung out and trying to catch his breath. Mina lifted her eyes to his, locked onto her ceiling, his fingers absently tracing the curve of her hip.

"So anytime I want you to punish me, I should disappear for two months?" She mused, bringing clarity to his eyes and amusement to his lips. Khai raised his brow scoldingly, but Mina was getting good, she could see that subtle teasing.

"Don't you dare."

"Well," She sat up, planting a soft kiss to his lips. "You'll have to wait at least long enough for me to shower."

"No longer than that then. Unless you'd like some company."

"Sure. If you have the stamina." Mina winked, slipping off the bed with care. She shot him a come-hither glance over her shoulder, that had him scrambling off the bed after her. The room was comically small, and her bed took up the majority of it, so needless to say, she didn't get far.

* * *

Khai jarred awake at the shrill sound of the fire alarm, the smell of something burning, and several exasperated curses sang out from the kitchen. In his disorientation, he struggled a moment to remember where he was, and amidst the chaos locked eyes with a white cat perched patiently where an exceptionally gorgeous blonde should have been. It glared with the most judgemental green eyes he'd ever seen, so Khai glared back, swearing the cat sneered at him when he reached to pet it. More clamoring in the kitchen caused the furry beast to run off into the living space where more obscenities were heard as the high pitched sound cut off into silence.

Light filtered into the tiny, chic little apartment through the bay window in the living room and illuminated her bedroom through the thinly curtained french doors. The scent of coffee hit him somewhere under the burnt smell, finally encouraging him to stand and at least seek out his boxer briefs. An icy draft hit him when he took a moment to peek outside, met with a blinding vision of the sun reflecting off of a thick blanket of white. Khai shivered, rubbing his arms for warmth as he staggered to make a pit stop in the cluttered and very orange bathroom before shuffling out into the living space to make sure Mina wasn't in the process of burning down the entire building.

The kitchen was a disaster, but he couldn't help but linger, admiring the very flustered girl scrambling around in the small space. She'd managed to not trigger smoke detector again, but there was about half a loaf of burnt french toast piled in the garbage, several eggshells, and a concerning amount of powdered sugar floating through the air. She'd posted the concert tickets to her fridge by a happy face magnet, sending memories of the previous night tugging happily at his lips while he watched her genuinely try making him breakfast with such captivation. That tiny kitchen might as well have become his entire world.

Her blonde hair was piled up in a messy bun, tendrils of gold framing her face in addition to the fringe that framed her light blue eyes. A huge light blue baggy sweater fell over one shoulder, paired with some matching woolen thigh highs warmed her legs. Remnants of the previous night's eyeliner still accented her eyes though her face had been scrubbed clean. Khai couldn't help but stare at her, skin dusted with powdered sugar and determination furrowing her well sculpted brows.

He snuck in silently, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind while he peeked over her head. "It's turned up too high. Put it on medium."

"I wanted to surprise you." Mina deflated, and pouted while she turned down the heat. Khai smiled endearingly, offering a light squeeze, a simple kiss to her temple that allowed him to breathe in her sweet floral scent.

"Well let's mix your eggs and vanilla better, and how about I cut up some strawberries?"

Mina giggled, her weight shifting to lean back against his chest. "You slept in, it's a little after eight you know. Overdo it last night?"

"Never." Khai purred deeply into her ear. Frankly, the blonde minx in his arms kept him rather insatiable, a danger that had him recoiling into his work in every other relationship he'd ever been in. But he didn't want to this time, and yet he let her go, moving to cut some strawberries while keeping a keen eye on what Mina was doing. "I do have a reputation to keep though, you'd better not tell anyone." He stifled a laugh when Mina turned to make a face at him over her shoulder, gesturing with his knife wielding hand to avert her attention back to the stove. "Don't burn that. It should be soft, but not soggy in the middle."

"You cook too? Is there anything you don't do well?" She chided, turning back to flip the bread in her pan. He frowned and added strawberry slices to a bowl. Regardless of their chemistry, he could sympathize with her insecurity, her reasons for not reaching out when she had the means to. He had told her he wanted more, and he did. Khai found himself looking forward to a concert he would normally care less about just because she'd be with him. Formulating New Year's Eve plans, and possibly taking her to Dubai the next time he went to visit his mother, but he'd destroyed every relationship he'd ever had because he was just so damn busy.

"I'm not good at socializing. I can command a board room or lead a project if it involves work, but this…" He gestured between them. "I'm no good at relationships. I keep my circle exceptionally small."

"So, if I ask you if you… oh, I don't know, want to date me…"

"Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?"

Her face flared red and she wouldn't look at him. Khai might have laughed since she suddenly became far more attentive to her cooking than the conversation. "I get it if you don't. I'm a handful and-"

"Would you be okay with me working constantly? Weekends, nights, I…" He could see her visibly deflate from behind and felt a sinking feeling in his heart. His job was a non-negotiable, it was his life, and it was demanding, though he'd always found time for his friends, made time if he had to. Khai took a breath and shifted his stare back up to her, she'd gone silent, and realized that something about Mina made him yearn for more. She was vivacious and alive, colorful in ways that were so absent from his life. "I know I need to compromise if I agree. But I need you to reel me in, keep me accountable." A smirk tugged at his lips as he abandoned his strawberries to wrap her back into his arms. "And call me."

"I believe you have my number now too Mr. Mob Boss."

Khai raised his hands in acknowledging surrender, damn near grinning when she turned around, crossing her arms with spatula still in hand. "I just want to set the expectations upfront. And I want you to make the choice if I give my word to compromise." He lifted her chin with a finger and pulled her closer, her blue eyes dancing among his grey. "I very much want to be with you, Mina."

"That's not fair. I was asking you first." She spoke softly in that teasing way she had about her.

"Well, think about it." He offered, bending to capture her lips with his in a kiss that made fire blaze through him despite its brevity. He smirked smugly at her dreamy expression when they parted, and gestured behind her with his eyes toward the stove. "And don't burn that."

Mina squeaked and turned to quickly flip the fresh piece of french toast in the pan. The smugness in him melted into something softer as he watched her, the way she moved so carefully around the kitchen and improved with every piece she made.

"Okay, do-over." She declared, spinning to press her palms against his bare stomach, gently pushing him back out of the kitchen. "Get back to bed, before you catch a cold, and you'd better act surprised!"

Khai chuckled, bending to kiss her forehead. "As you wish. Merry Christmas, Mina."

"Merry Christmas, Khai." She added with an almost sheepish flush on her cheeks.

He grabbed his laptop back en route back to the bedroom, pausing in horror when he noticed the white cat perched smugly in his nice black dress shirt from the previous night still left in a heap on the living room floor. Narrowing his eyes, Khai tried to shoo the thing, only to be scolded in return with a low growl.

"Fine. You win, for now." He muttered, sauntering back into the bedroom to search for a free outlet to plug in his computer with the cat's judgmental glare fixed on him the entire time. Khai plopped in bed with a defeated sigh, opening his laptop in preparation to get a few things done.

"What do you think you're doing mister!?" He glanced up, several minutes had passed of course and Mina had grown suspiciously silent. But now, the most beautiful woman on the planet stood furiously in the doorway with a tray in hand, plates piled high with french toast and strawberries and mugs of steaming coffee. "You'd better be watching cat videos on YouTube or trying to find something to watch on Netflix. Certainly not working."

Khai chuckled at this, humored and grateful she was already reeling him in from the temptation to process end of the year work. "Just a little Christmas tradition. Speaking of cats, who's your friend? I don't think he likes me much."

The cat hopped onto the bed, purring loudly as Mina set the tray down on the blanket. No sooner had she shooed him off, the cat hopped right back up again.

"Oh, Artemis? He's a spoiled brat, but he's family and I love him." She scratched the feline between the ears, only pausing to slap Khai's hand when he reached for one of the strawberries and climbed into the bed beside him. "Don't change the subject…"

"Artemis is a girl's name you know. Greek Goddess of the hunt?" He'd lifted a mug of coffee from the tray, taking a sip that burned pleasantly on the way down, not averting his eyes from the screen in front of him.

"You are infuriating!" Mina sighed, cupping her own mug between her hands while Artemis curled up at the end of the bed. "I found him in the park when he was a baby, and we thought he was a girl for the longest time, so it just stuck." She shrugged, leaning against his shoulder to peek at what he was working on. "Now tell me what this Christmas tradition is that you're working on."

"Well, I just got done processing bonuses for my employees, which I can't show you, but I'm inputting annual donations to certain causes I feel strongly about. I do it every Christmas morning since I don't typically celebrate a traditional holiday."

"Oh." She said simply, but with interest, feeding him a slice of one of the strawberries she'd arranged in hearts on the sugar coated pieces of french toast. It smelled heavenly, even if he didn't normally indulge in such meals, it was clear to him how hard Mina worked on it all morning. She couldn't have slept very long. "Shouldn't you do bonuses before the holiday?"

"Yes. And I do. But I only book them once they clear, and I also add a small sum to my employee's investment accounts. Since I'm an international, private firm, there are certain perks I cannot extend to them so it's a tradition that I do this today because I can, however, see to it that they and their families have benefits and are set for the future-"

Mina interrupted him, her fingers hooking at his chin to turn his head into her kiss. Powdered sugar lingering on her lips, sweetening the moment that left him dazed when it was over, and Khai thought this must have been how an addict felt because he wanted more. Her eyes danced between his, and she chewed nervously on her bottom lip a moment before a smile tugged at her features. "I want this."

"Hm?"

"I want to try being your girlfriend."

He wanted to tear that sweater off of her, along with the lace bralette that peeked out from the neckline. Mina looked sheepish but didn't she know she was perfect? In contradiction to the butterflies wreaking havoc on his stomach, his reply felt so dry in comparison. But he had to tread carefully, didn't he? Khai didn't want to mess this up.

"Alright then. I'll do my best to be the boyfriend you deserve." He doused some of the french toast in syrup and cut off a piece with a fork, careful to include one of the heart shaped cut strawberries and not to make a mess of her bed when he fed her a bite. Her face lit up, and Khai didn't know if it was his declaration that brought her such joy or if the french toast turned out that good. Either way, for the first time in what felt like forever, something felt right. He didn't even complain or object to the equally syrupy, sugary sweet bite that Mina offered him in return. In fact, it was probably the best french toast he'd ever had.

"Well, at least when we go to a fancy restaurant next time, people won't have to make up stories about us."

"Lovers having dinner seems a bit mundane of a story, don't you think?" He quipped smirking over a sip of his coffee with a raised brow.

Mina only smiled, slowly moving their mostly empty tray to the nightstand. Next, she daintily took the mug from his hand and set it to the side as well. She had that gleam in her eye that Khai began to recognize when she straddled his hips, and laced her finger in his hair, combing with her fingers through the silver strands.

"Oh yes, the best sort of mundane where we look too normal. But little do they know about the hotel room we destroyed just trying to rip each other's clothes off." Her lips were sweet and sticky when she kissed him, he knew where this was going, unable to keep his lips from curling deviantly. "Or the night we spent worshipping each other until three in the morning." Khai pulled her oversized sweater up over her head so he could feast on more lace and smooth skin, the pale blue bralette concealing nothing of her full, perfect breasts. Laptop pushed aside, he pushed her back against the mattress so he could hover on top of her, drinking in her soft little moan.

"Next time we go to that restaurant, we'll have to test our luck in the bathroom, see what it takes for them to kick us out." He purred quietly. Mina giggled and wrapped her legs around him, fingers soft against his cheek.

"People will envy such chemistry, that we can't keep our hands off of each other." To prove her point, her hands began to wander, exploring and testing him. Khai noticed she liked to do that, Mina wasn't shy about trying to figure him out, and he took pleasure in knowing she had the tools to do so. "They'll wonder if we're the kind of couple that stays up all night memorizing boring details about each other. And when we go see Dreamcatcher they'll look at you and wish they had a doting boyfriend to take them to concerts he hates."

"Compromise." He offered with a small shrug, "A very mundane concept of every relationship that most people fail at miserably." Khai dipped his head to taste her neck, knowing it was the point of no return for her the way she inhaled sharply and slanted her head to give him better access. The sweetness of powdered sugar was a pleasant but not unexpected surprise when he tasted her skin, pausing only to whisper one promise. "I won't fail you."

It was a Christmas he'd never forget. How they made love all morning and carried their passion into a steamy shower until they were both clean and exhausted. By the afternoon, Mina was asleep with her head in his lap while the day's light began to wane and cast shadows through the small apartment. Admittingly to no one, Khai had fallen asleep for a short time too, both exhausted, warm, and beyond content.

In an oddly domestic manner, he got up to clean her kitchen for her, fixing a simple soup for dinner with some odds and ends he found in her cabinets since it was likely that nothing was open for carryout. Mina made him sit through 'Love Actually,' which he didn't hate, and they had a good laugh over old commercials she did when she was much younger and fell into a rabbit hole of cringe-worthy but nostalgic advertisements that they relentlessly heckled. Khai only briefly mourned his nice black dress shirt and grey slacks now infested with white cat hair when he finally dressed, an unexpected memento of the day.

It was late when he reluctantly, had to leave. Thankfully he had the added warmth from his suit jacket to stave off a bit more of the cold this time, pulling the blanket Mina had draped over her shoulders around her a bit tighter when she walked him to the door. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"You'd better." Mina beamed endearing how she tried to hide her excitement, but he could see it sparkle through her eyes. "Sorry about your shirt."

"It's just a shirt." He smiled, that smile that was warm and only extended to people closest to him. Khai didn't mind because it made her flustered in the most adorable way. "Better yet, I'll pick you up when I get off. We'll do dinner at my place this time."

"It's a date!" She flirted with a scandalous wink. "Merry Christmas, Boyfriend."

"Merry Christmas Mina." Khai gave her a brief kiss, meeting her eyes with promise before he left to face the cold detour to Mamoru's apartment to collect his coat and keys and divert his probing interrogation about where he was. For the moment, Mina was his to keep, knowing they would have to answer to their friends sooner than later, he wanted just a little more time to keep their relationship to himself.

Later, before he settled into his apartment that was too quiet, too dull, and fell into a bed that felt too cold, he sent a short text before falling asleep because it was the first time in so long, that he missed someone that he didn't have to miss. Mina was his girlfriend now, after all.

"Goodnight beautiful, Merry Christmas."


	4. Strawberries and Syrup

"More." She rasped, trying to be quiet and failing when he thrust harder, deeper, and she whimpered loudly against her bit lip to keep from crying out. His hands grasped firmly into her hips, torn underwear hanging limp and sad around her thigh, and the cold porcelain of the restaurant sink bit into her ass every time he pushed his cock into her sodden entrance. With everything she had, Mina met each of his thrusts with desperate hips, a gluttonous want to feel every inch she could without ruining his slacks. He'd barely undone them really, just pulled himself through the open zipper, and plunged himself inside of her raw.

"Shhh…" Khai hushed, kissing his forehead to hers, unable to smother the fire in his grey eyes with all of that seriousness. Not when he was so deep inside of her, enveloped completely by the hot depth of her while the strap of her cute yellow dress fell down off of her shoulder, freeing one of her breasts, jerking with each turbulent movement. No, this was perhaps the only time his eyes looked so wild and untamed, almost dangerous with their intensity. So much for not ruining his slacks. "We need to hurry."

"But you feel so good." Mina shuttered as she rolled her hips on his slick cock and pleaded with her eyes. It wasn't her fault he decided to slip his hand up her dress in the cab on the way there, edging and fucking her with his fingers the way he was currently fucking her on the bathroom sink of a five star restaurant. Probably payback for the black thigh highs she'd chosen to wear knowing full well the sight of her skin beneath them would send Khai over the edge. Stockings that were now rolling down her thighs as they moved and her muscles clenched around his waist. She supposed they were even. They'd barely been seated before she dragged him into the bathroom of a very familiar restaurant, and locked the door. "Don't stop.."

"Mina.." Khai gasped, clearly ready to combust when she slipped her hand down the back of his pants and dug her fingernails into his buttcheek, moaning when his hips snapped sharply forward.

He kissed her then, trying to drown both of their mounting cries with his tongue. It was just one of those nights, perhaps marking an anniversary of the night they met, but Mina was insatiable, and Khai daring in his subtle, or not so subtle way if Mamoru's Christmas party had been anything to go by. It started with a glance when he picked her up for the evening, and from there a series of touches accompanied those sidelong glances and long, inappropriate kisses. They couldn't stop touching, tasting, or feasting on the sight of the other. And they hadn't even ordered dinner yet.

Lipstick smeared onto her cheek, it was smeared on his shirt and mouth, and probably her neck from where Khai had clamped his lips against her pulse and likely marked her pale flesh. Mina clawed his suit jacket, his hair, the sides of the sink to keep from falling in when he slammed his hips against hers in a desperate race toward the end. She tried to dilute her moans into ragged breaths as the tension between her thighs began its rapturous crescendo.

The door rattled, punctuated by the knock of someone trying to enter the men's room. Mina giggled softly, tensing her thighs around Khai's hips to keep him from pulling away when she was ready to die a not so little death. "God don't stop...Please don't stop.."

He growled, fueled by her whispered pleas, kissing her hard with a fistful of her once pristine hair, and this time her moan echoed against the stalls. The commotion beyond the door made certain they'd have to hurry, but the thrill of being caught seeming to only arouse Khai even more. "I want to feel you…"

"You too." Mina said breathily with an invitation in her deepened blue eyes.

She reached between their frantic hips and stroked her very swollen and sensitive clit with the pads of her fingers the way she liked it, sliding over slippery flesh making certain to stroke the thick length of him between her fingers as he pounded deep inside of her more feverishly. It was his turn to moan, only Khai would clench his jaw to contain it into another low growl as he pulled back to watch. The added stimulation serving both of them with new sights and sensations. Time was against them, but it was enough.

The onslaught of pleasure came like a freefall, crashing down so destructively that it stole her breath. It burst and spread through her shaking limbs as she came with a vengeance, back arched, fingers grasping and digging into his hair and clothes as she shuttered and pulsed around the thick girth of him. Khai had tried to smother her euphoria with distracted kisses, even offering the shoulder of the pristine suit jacket he wore for her to bite down on as she clung to him for dear life.

Mina dragged him down with her, pulsing so violently around his hard and intrusive cock that he bent forward, grasping her body against his suit-clad chest when he came only a moment after her. Khai stilled, hips stuttering as the warmth of him spread inside of her and spilled over the edge of the sink, his release coming in growls and groans between clenched teeth. Neither of them were quiet.

The restaurant manager was thoroughly embarrassed, as one is when they enter the men's room of their establishment to find a couple barely dressed and highly disheveled, but glowing and grinning ear to ear in the aftermath of a clearly rigorous session. Khai let her duck into one of the stalls to clean up and make herself presentable while he spoke to the poor man with the diplomatic grace and clarity that men only seem to gain after a soul-shattering orgasm.

Mina was only grateful the manager didn't call the cops, but she suspected the fact that Khai was a very prestigious client of theirs had a lot to do with them getting off by simply being asked to leave. After getting off. As painfully serious as he could be, she suspected that with his natural sharpness came a certain unassuming self-awareness and charisma that had gotten the man out of more trouble in his life than he'd ever admit to. Although naturally, as quick-witted as Khai was, she still assumed that the orgasm helped.

An amused silence had fallen between them, almost smug as they spilled out onto the sidewalk with mussed up hair and rubbery legs. The night's air was fresh in her lungs but chilled against her skin, still sheened with sweat and Mina pulled her cropped faux leather jacket tighter around her bare arms. The fact that she'd left her torn underwear on the bathroom floor helped nothing, but she figured the guy that had interrupted them might like a souvenir.

Khai was still adjusting his tie, pulling his suit jacket down over his crotch with the hopes of hiding any potential stains. They made a pair alright. Lipstick smudged along his neck and the collar of his grey shirt, a telling story of the way her lips had traveled. Mina had no way to hide the purple hickeys, one on her neck and the other on her left breast in a place she couldn't conceal based on the low neckline of her dress.

"So, what now?" He asked, running a hand over his long silver hair to smooth it, immediately having to pull down the jacket of his suit again. His brows raised slightly as he gave her a once over with his eyes, seemingly almost proud of his work. Mina smirked, mocking as she narrowed her eyes at him and let her hair down out of the very messed up half ponytail she'd styled it in.

"Diner?" She offered, sauntering toward him to lace her arms low around his waist. "I could go for some pancakes."

"What about my place?" Khai gave her that look that melted her soul, a mixture of mere subtle shifts of his lips, a lukewarm heat in his affectionate stare. Mina stared back almost defiantly until his lip quirked a bit more, rewarding her with the dimple in his cheek. "I will make you pancakes."

"Deal." She agreed, smiling excitedly. They'd been officially dating for a few weeks, their friends still recovering from the shock, and she had yet to see his apartment.

The plan had been a post-Christmas date, dinner at his place, but as Khai had warned her, he was extraordinarily busy with the opening of the Tokyo branch for his business and asked her to reschedule. The New Year came and went, and contrary to his previous thought, Hotel Century did allow him to book a room since his company threw a big party that of course included all of their friends as well as a rather substantial price tag for the establishment. Khai wasn't exactly a 'money talks' kind of guy but when it counted he used his status toward good things, and always kept quiet about it. They had made good use of that room too, sloppy and drunk, only this time kept the damages to a minimum.

He felt bad enough for missing their date that he thought a fancy dinner would make up for it, though the thought of him flipping pancakes for her was so much better. "We really need to work on this dating thing."

"I don't know." She smirked as Khai hailed a cab, pausing to allow the automatic door to open. "Being spontaneous works for us."

His brow quirked. "I've never been spontaneous in my life."

"Oh?" She inquired, knowingly, eyes shifting back toward the restaurant.

"Yes, I know. You are proving to be very dangerous for me." Khai said dryly, slipping into the cab beside her, giving the driver his address.

His apartment was exactly what Mina thought it would be. Spacious, full of clean lines and contrasting neutral greys, black, and white with stainless steel appliances and tall windows with a killer view of Tokyo Tower. Khai was also more traditional, and Mina paused in the genkan to slip out of her four inch heels dwarfing herself, before daring to step further into his apartment. It looked like a photo for GQ magazine, much like the man himself.

"So do I get a tour?" She asked, looking all around to try and find a personal touch anywhere, hands folded in front of her for fear of touching anything. She stepped to the window, well aware of his eyes on her back while he shrugged out of his suit jacket and tie. If she hadn't been there she suspected he would have put them away, but instead he draped them over the back of a leather chair by a very modern linear fireplace.

"If you want." He said quietly, his stare unwavering on her as he lit the fireplace with a remote.

Mina turned slowly, the intensity of his gaze sending a chill down her spine. A quality about Khai that she loved, basked in, cherished, was his ability to hyperfixate on her regardless of what was going on in his life. Contrary to his previous admissions that he never did that in previous relationships, she thought he was doing just fine, currently undressing her with his eyes as she stood against the backdrop of the city. The whole wide world out there, and all Khai wanted to do was stare at her.

"I'd like that." Mina said, stockinged feet padding back toward him on the cold hardwood floor. His grey eyes trailed her as though somehow she'd fascinated him. "What?"

"Hm?"

"You're staring." She giggled, nudging his side playfully. "I must look like a mess."

"You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." That intensity again, the way his hand brushed her hair behind her ear, fingertips down her arm so he could lace his fingers with hers. Mina thought this must be what it was like to fall. Really fall for someone. Khai's lips quirked, perhaps at the raging flush that crept from her neck all the way up to her hairline, or maybe it was something he said. "This is the living room, obviously."

"Beautiful view." She said, only she was no longer paying attention to the indeed spectacular view outside, but at him.

"Right, the tour." He said, clearing his throat and pulling her deeper into the apartment. "The kitchen is through there," Khai said, gesturing to their left to a small but posh little kitchen with dark wood and marble accented by stainless steel appliances. "Pardon the mess, but this is supposed to be the dining room, but I just use it for work."

If this was a mess, Mina was glad he hadn't chosen to come up to her apartment when he picked her up that night. There was a dining room table, papers neatly stacked and files organized in holders surrounded a laptop where the messiest thing about it was the coffee cup still sitting on the glass table, likely from earlier that morning.

"Charming." She replied, smirking up at him since he'd described her apartment as such during their Christmas reunion. He didn't seem to notice, only led her forward by the hand toward a small hallway.

"There's a half bath through there, and then my room."

Mina found herself pulled into a large room with more large windows draped with thick blackout curtains that were pulled open to another gorgeous view. She could see the park from there if she looked hard enough, the building where Mamoru, and soon Usagi lived… but that didn't remain her focus for long.

Khai pulled her face to look up at him with two gentle fingers beneath her chin, bending to capture her lips so sweetly she thought her knees might fail her and even after it was over her eyes didn't want to open for fear that it wasn't real. She caught him studying her when they did open, grey eyes clear against the dim light of the city that filtered into the dimly lit space.

Behind them, a king sized bed was made, an expensive watch on the bedside table along with a pair of reading glasses and the leather bound edition of "The Art of War" she'd gifted him over the holidays. The old, cynical Mina would have thought it to be staged, and it might have been had they originally planned to come to his apartment, but whoever she'd become after meeting Khai, this better version of herself, was touched.

She smiled and kissed him again, briefly despite the night growing more intimate than it already had. "It's beautiful here."

"But?"

"But nothing." Mina smiled wider, more mischievous. "It could use some color. And your living area is the size of my entire apartment so…"

Khai rolled his eyes, squeezing her hand, and leading her toward another door within his room. "My bathroom, and closet. That's the tour."

Mina peaked in the luxurious glass and marble bathroom, eyebrows raised, impressed if not a little jealous. The apartment was small but spacious at the same time, oozing with too much money, but gorgeous. She was almost glad that their initial plans to have dinner at his place had been delayed, knowing a few months ago it might have made her feel insecure but he gave her something no other man before him ever had. Effort.

Khai was always upfront and honest with her about his shortcomings in relationships, and true to his word he at least called her every day just to catch up. Was terrible at sexting, but it never failed that she'd wake up to a text every morning that simply said 'Good Morning Beautiful.'

"It'll do." She joked, spinning on her toes to face him. "It does suit you though."

"Boring?" He raised his brow and Mina laughed.

"Hardly. I love it."

"Do you?" He asked, and for some reason, her breath caught in her throat. Their eyes danced for a moment and Mina swallowed hard.

"I…" _Grrrrrrr. _

Rudely, her stomach replied for her. Khai's easy laugh lifting the tension that grew between them.

"It's getting late. I owe you pancakes." He raised their joined hands, pressing a kiss to her knuckles with a somewhat knowing gleam in his eyes. What it was he knew, her hunger or...whatever just happened, made her stomach knot with more than just hunger.

Mina only nodded in response, smiling though her cheeks burned, and together they walked back into the living space. Khai let go of her hand to rummage in the kitchen while she slowly meandered around the apartment full of clean lines and sparse furnishings. There were some large shelving units containing a lot of old books, some movies, and a rather eclectic music selection. Something she remembered from their first conversation but was eager to explore.

"Can I put some music on?" She called out, fingering a few CDs which were slowly becoming an archaic form of media but even she still had a decent selection leftover from her teenage years. Her parents always lamented about vinyls and how there was nothing like listening to an old record. Mina felt very much the same about CDs.

"Sure." He replied, somewhat reluctantly as it was established that music was one area that they had little in common. She chose something instrumental, something to set the mood really. A neutral choice they could both agree on. Just because they were at his place making pancakes for breakfast instead of some fancy restaurant across town sipping wine, didn't mean the night shouldn't be romantic.

Softly the music filtered through a surround sound system and Mina mosied toward the kitchen where Khai was mixing batter in a large bowl. The sleeves of his dark collared shirt were rolled up to his elbows and he'd pulled his long hair back into a low ponytail. Adorably, smudges of flour on his tawny skin and pristine clothes really tore down his stuffy businessman exterior for something far more approachable. She liked to think she was one of very few that got to see that side of him.

"You do this often?" Mina asked, leaning in the entryway, head tilted to admire him.

He smiled in a fond manner she hadn't seen before, testing the consistency of his batter with a spoon. "Have you ever had cizlemes?"

"Pardon?"

"I'll take that as a no. Cizlemes are a kind of pancake my mother used to make for breakfast on the weekends. I used to help her in the kitchen growing up and thought you might enjoy it. And yes, you can still douse them in syrup if you insist on it."

Enjoy it? She was absolutely touched by the gesture. "I'm so glad we got kicked out of that restaurant."

Khai chuckled, seemingly more relaxed than she'd ever seen him. "I can't say I have any complaints about the course of the evening."

"Want me to cut strawberries?" Mina asked, gesturing toward a freshly rinsed bundle sitting in a colander in the sink.

"I blame you, but I always seem to have them in the house now. I have since I moved in. I'd love the help, thank you."

"I'll take that blame." She said, cheeks warm beneath the glance he gave her over his shoulder. She selected a knife and began to slice, knowing he'd moved in far before their reunion. He'd eaten a lot of strawberries since then if she had to guess and Mina was shamelessly happy to know how deeply she'd gotten under his skin after the first night. Mostly because he'd gotten so deeply under hers.

"I wouldn't want to blame anyone else." Khai replied fondly.

"So, is this a Turkish recipe? Long time family secret?" She asked, genuinely curious after many long conversations about holidays, customs, and even a hefty debate about religion. They'd even discussed love and soulmates in gross depth long into the early morning hours over the phone one night. Mina never quite got over how adorable it was that he fell asleep. Even more attracted to his ability to delve into such deep and philosophical topics fearlessly. No judgments between them no matter how they disagreed.

Khai did laugh a little in his throat, flipping one of the thin pancakes. "I thought so, for a long time. We were hosting my Uncle for a long weekend once and he shattered my entire world."

"Sounds serious."

The stove sizzled behind her, a warm scent wafting into the air, adding a homey touch to the museum-like apartment. "Nothing life-altering, but they're really just crepes. A recipe more best known in Thrace."

"Sooo Greek?"

"No." He bit with playful disdain. "Well… it's an interesting place. Somewhere in the middle of Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria. It's beautiful."

"Ah yes," she giggled, "To be so cultured."

"We should go some time." He said absently, followed by the snapping shut of his jaw that was almost audible. He was too busy pouring a ladle of batter into the pan when she turned around to look. Khai's jaw was clenched, his ears red.

Mina turned back to what she was doing when the silence fell between them, humming along to the music, swaying to the instrumental version of some popular song from when she was little while she cut the berries down to sizes suitable for pancakes. Gazing out between the cabinets and the sink to the glittering skyline of Tokyo beyond the windows, she smiled.

Everything still had that new feeling to it, a little awkward at times because emotions are strange like that when relationships are still newer but it felt more like their private clubhouse than his apartment. Then again home was different for everyone and for her, it felt more and more like wherever Khai was.

"Hey Khai," Mina said once the berries were washed and cut and her task for the moment was done. "Do you remember what you asked me that first night?"

"I asked you many things." He replied, turning to face her while keeping a close eye on the stove.

"You asked me if the night was too young for love." She lifted one of the strawberries toward his lips, resting the pad of her finger against them when they parted to accept the treat. Khai merely looked at her, puzzled, and she almost missed it for staring at his mouth. "Well, it's not."

He swallowed hard and Mina only quirked her lips in a manner that usually spelled trouble, turned on her heel, and sauntered out into the living room. Khai cursed softly, having burned one of the crepes.

The fire was warm, welcoming, and Mina propped herself up on a very modern version of what should have been an armchair. Up so high, it was like the Moon had dropped lower in the sky just for them, basking in the pale yellow glow while the music added a more dream-like quality to the night. She felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. So much so that it terrified her, thrilled her, like being swept away by a perfect stranger. Two souls in love before they knew a thing about the other.

Like a proper waiter, Khai balanced two plates on his hands, setting them down on a glass coffee table in front of the fire where Mina sidled to join him on a sofa that matched the chair she previously occupied. He bent to kiss the crown of her hair, moving the armchair out of the way so she could see the view if she wanted, and ran back into the kitchen to grab syrup, strawberries, some honey, strawberry jam, and some kind of white cheese like feta. It was placed on a platter like a fancy restaurant might, and accompanied by mimosas, a pleasant surprise.

"It's not every day I get to cook for someone." He observed, leaning forward to artfully spoon some white cheese and strawberries onto the thin spongy cakes, drizzling just a touch of honey on top.

"It's far more romantic than our original plans." Mina said.

"I'm glad," Khai replied, offering a forkful of his dish. "Try it. I doubt it's sweet enough for you but this is just how I remember it growing up."

He was partially right, but it almost tasted like strawberry cheesecake, only a little more savory. It was delicious. Maybe more so when he fed it to her like that, grey eyes locked on her lips. He was right though, she was craving something sweeter. "Is there anything you don't do well? This is amazing Khai."

He chuckled in reply, melting on the spot when he took a bite for himself, exhaling slowly as though he re-lived a million childhood memories. Taking compliments wasn't exactly his strong suit either, but Mina figured she could work on that. Thoughts for later, as she earned an exasperated smile from Khai when she loaded hers up with cheese, strawberry jam, loads of syrup, and topped with strawberries. Worth it for that dimple in his cheek.

Mina prattled on about her day, enjoying the sugary sweet crepes that were more spongy and delicious than other ones she'd had, making a mental note that Khai was never allowed off the hook when it came to breakfast on the weekends if he could make these.

After all, they didn't see each other much. A quick lunch here and there, a night out on a weekend that usually resulted in them crashing at her place or some hotel nearby depending on how much they'd had to drink with dinner. Lots of phone calls, and like now as she rambled, he listened without judgment.

"So, there's an audition." She said finally, poking at the soggy strawberry on her plate before forking the syrup coated fruit into her mouth.

"Are you trying out? You should, you know. If you want it."

"Think so? It's been a long time since I even tried. I guess I just got comfortable." She shrugged, startled by the subtle kindness in his face when she turned to look at him.

"Being uncomfortable means you're learning or trying to press forward."

"Please don't start quoting The Art of War." Mina teased. Khai raised his hands in defeat and opted for a sip of his mimosa.

"I'm only saying that if you still want to be an idol, this could be your shot. What role is it for?"

"One of those original movies that streaming services produce. Nothing huge but I guess these days it's a pretty big step. It's for a lead though, one of those murder mysteries. A modern noir type thing."

"You'd be perfect." He said, leaning forward to kiss her temple. "You should do it."

There were few things in life that could make her flush but Khai seemed to know every single one. "I guess I don't want to be a receptionist forever." She smiled genuinely, biting her bottom lip between her teeth causing his pale grey eyes to flicker toward her mouth. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Believing in me."

"I wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if I didn't." He brushed the fringe from her eyes softly. "You charmed me, so I have no doubt that you'd dazzle the world. I'd be selfish to keep you all to myself."

"Don't ever doubt that as soon as those cameras shut off that I'm all yours."

"I'll remember that when you're famous," Khai said quietly, pale eyes roving over her face, the pride she saw in them turning into amusement. "This will sound cliche, but you have syrup on your lip." He pointed out, his mouth already tugging in that irritatingly sexy way.

Mina only smirked back and relaxed against the sofa. "I hope you plan on removing it in some very cliche way."

Khai slid closer, grey eyes fixed like a hawk on his destination. Cheesy as the moment was, at least they were self aware. It didn't help the way her heart fluttered and the anticipation of it built in her chest in that breath catching way that she didn't want to escape. His tongue ran slowly over her bottom lip, lightly brushing her teeth as it dipped between her lips. Mina knew she was gone when his fingers slowly slipped into her hair, and she parted her lips to brush her tongue against his.

Unlike the total combustion of earlier in the evening, Mina curled her fingers into his shirt to pull him closer, savoring the sticky sweetness of their lips with a more paced desire. His hands remained as such too, fingers trailing from her hair to caress her jaw as he parted after a lingering moment to peer into her soul. She had yet to decipher the look in his eyes but part of her knew what they were saying.

"Are you staying tonight? Khai asked, his thumb tracing her bottom lip before retracting.

"If you want me to." She replied, unsure how being weak in the knees worked when you were sitting down but she was certainly weak. When he didn't reply, only answering with a wanting look, Mina nodded.

"I'll clean up. If you want to, you can use my shower and help yourself to something from my closet to sleep in."

"Well after earlier, you probably want a shower too." She replied, fiddling with the top button on his shirt. "The dishes will be there in the morning."

Khai looked at her like she had three heads for a split second before he pulled her close. His mouth twitched as though he tried to hide a grin. "You're out to derail all of the order in my life, aren't you?"

"I'd never want to change you." Mina began, holding his eyes as she stood up, pulling the zipper on the side of her dress down. It slipped off easily enough, adding to the chaos by leaving it in a heap on his living room floor. Anyone who could see through his large windows certainly got her show as she was left wearing nothing but a pair of black thigh high stockings.

She smirked when she saw the bob of his Adam's apple and bent to place a brief kiss on his nose, lifting her foot onto the cushion beside him to roll one of her stockings slowly down her leg. "But if you want to join me…I could use someone to help wash my back. Unless you'd rather wash the dishes."

Either Khai was rendered speechless or was too transfixed on the motion, he sat rigid in place until she'd removed the other stocking. This time, she giggled, and tossed it at him, leaving him to stare after her as she sauntered toward his darkened bedroom with a little more sway in her hips.

She flipped on the warming lamps, casting a dim orange glow across the marbled bathroom and contemplated the jacuzzi tub or the large walk-in shower stall walled by tempered glass. Opting for efficiency, Mina cranked the hot water in the spacious standing shower, letting the steam perspire on the steel appliances and fog the mirrors. Enough to soothe the muscles and not burn the skin.

Only a few minutes passed and he was there, sinking in through the steam. She knew he wouldn't be able to resist. The warmth of his body, luxurious fabric pressed against her back, the spicy musk of his cologne enveloped her in the misty fog as Mina found herself in his arms. His shirt was unbuttoned, hanging loose over his powerful shoulders, belt gone, pants unbuttoned and unzipped, just barely hanging off of his hips. He was messy and unraveled as he pulled her against the firm wall of his chest.

"You certainly know how to destroy a man." Khai muttered against her skin, sweeping her hair to the side to press his lips against her shoulder, to pull the flesh of her neck between his lips.

"Mmm...It wasn't easy." She smirked and peered at him behind her shoulder. "But you shouldn't have shown me how to breach your defenses."

"You did it before I ever showed you, Mina." He growled breathily, lips caressing the shell of her ear sending a chill down her spine. "No one can get under my skin the way you do."

Mina turned and gazed up into his deepened eyes and slowly pushed his shirt off of his shoulders. She kissed his chest as the skin exposed, caressing his thumping heart with her lips, pulling deep, ragged breaths from his lungs. "When did I have you?"

In turn, his fingers tilted her chin upwards to look at him. "You always have."

"Always?" Mina questioned, her fingers hooked the waistline of his slacks and pulled him closer, wasting no time in slipping them down off of his hips.

"It feels that way." He whispered, the running shower nearly drowning the words but she was getting good at reading his face, and knew she felt the same.

"Some souls are just born yearning I guess." Mina replied, taking his hand and pulling him into the hot spray with her.

Khai dragged his blunt nails up her sides, letting the water run through his long silver hair, deepening the tone against his smooth tawny skin. "Are you yearning now?"

Her blue eyes danced with his grey. Yearning? That was all she knew since she met him. Khai had turned her into a selfish ball of it. Mina yearned for his presence when he wasn't near, for his touch, his kiss, even his bland and stoic tone because she knew she could search that beautiful, carved face of his for some tick, some subtle motion that revealed more than anyone else ever knew. "Always…"

"Tell me what you want." He muttered, pulling her close.

Mina tilted her head back, washing the fringe around her eyes out of her way in the hot stream, and Khai wasted no time in drinking the deluge that ran down her neck. She gasped and hummed as he pulled her close, slick skin against slick skin, his cock coming slowly to life between them. Pumping a few squirts of some fancy looking soap into her palms, she ran her hands over the firm muscle of his chest and began to wash him.

"Nothing." Mina claimed innocently, the familiar scent of him wafting up from the soap and into the steam, some exotic scent she'd have to make note of later. Truly she couldn't think of a thing about this man she didn't want. She would have stolen his last name if he'd asked and normally a thought like that would terrify her, but she supposed that souls were meant to stop yearning eventually. Once they found the very thing they'd always wanted.

"Nothing at all?" Khai asked, pulling the wet curtain of her hair aside, reaching for more soap so he could hold her close and wash her back as she'd requested.

"That feels good." She sighed, reaching her arms around his waist to run her soapy hands over his back, lightly raking downward with her nails earning a low rumble of satisfaction in his throat.

More and more soap seemed to be added, a session of roaming lathered hands like they hadn't already touched every piece of each other, perhaps cleansing each other of lovers before to ensure there would be no lover after. Their lips brushed in almost kisses, breath mingling with the steam as her hands caressed his chest, the lines and ripples of his stomach, the V of his hips. She touched him as though he was untouchable, forbidden, a strange notion that came to her in moments of uncertainty. But she wasn't uncertain now.

"Mina…" He sighed, biting down on his lower lip as her soapy hands caressed the soft flesh between his thighs, upward to the somewhat intimidating length, pike hard and pressed against her stomach between them. Mina watched his face carefully, not stroking, but running the pads of her fingers over the veins and swollen head, letting it twitch against her touch as his cock slid against her soapy skin.

Khai groaned, pulling her until she was no longer under the showerhead to him step under the stream to rinse off while simultaneously turning her back to him. Mina could hear the soap dispenser, feel his hard length nestled in the crevice of her backside as he gathered her breasts into his palms and pulled her firmly against him.

"Tell me what you want." He practically purred, pulling an audible gasp from her when he pinched the aroused pink tips between his fingers. Mina arched her back slightly, rubbing at his groin with her ass in the process. He ran his hands down over her stomach, her arms, rubbing his palms against her nipples until her skin was on fire, each sensation made more intense by the slippery nature of their skin. Unsure at this point if she couldn't breathe because of the steam, or his skillful touch.

"What don't I want, is a better question." She replied, half out of her mind from the mere touch as he ran his hands lower, kissing her back as he bent to graze her thighs with his fingertips, using a firmer touch on the inside of her legs until they reached their destination.

Her body tensed, lips parted in a barely suppressed gasp as his fingers parted her folds, slowly rubbing between the lips. Breath hot against her skin, he growled when she began canting and moving her hips in time with his hand, grinding against his cock in the process. "What don't you want then?"

Mina rolled her eyes when his fingers brushed her clit, sending shockwaves of pleasure rippling across her skin in slow delicious torture. "Khai…"

"Tell me." He muttered again, giving her a brief concentrated touch where he'd long learned was an easy start to getting her off. A few minutes of that and she'd be curling her toes and seeing stars but she didn't want that. The teasing was too sweet, too slow, and sensual not to savor.

"Not yet…" Her reply came shaken and pitched and she exhaled with welcome frustration when Khai switched to slower, broader strokes, pressing the pad of his finger against her entrance without penetrating the way she wanted him to. He swept the touch forward instead, slipping on more than just the soap.

The shower filled with their heavy breaths, his touch making her ache, his own ardent sighs fueling their edging further until Mina couldn't stand it. She pulled away to rinse away the lather that had slowly seeped down her body and wrenched the water off so she could pull Khai's lips to her own. He gathered her into a large, fluffy towel, barely breaking from a slow, toe curling kiss while they fumbled and failed to dry off a little, stumbling into his dark bedroom.

They onto his pristinely made bed, an entanglement of wet skin and hair. She writhed and gasped into his deep, deep kisses, her skin alive and humming, wet and aching for Khai to fill her. Each touch and kiss felt different, slower and methodical, more pleasurable and torturous than Mina's impatient desire could comprehend. His purposeful touch, her thighs, the backs of her knees, the curves of her waist and neck, all erogenous skin she'd all but forgotten until he touched them.

Khai flipped her onto her stomach, kissing the dimples in her lower back, up the notches of her spine until his breath was in her ear and the head of his cock pressed against her entrance, seeking permission. She shivered when his husky voice whispered against the shell of her ear. "You have to know what you do to me…"

"Show me." She gasped, biting her lip as Mina peered up at him over her shoulder, cheek pressed against the mattress, her hips lifted just slightly to encourage him.

"It might take all night." Khai whispered, steading his thick immodest length in his palm, pressing himself inside her from behind, a deep gasp panting against her skin.

Mina curled her fingers into the comforter, lips parted to gasp her affections as the familiar sensation of her body stretching to accommodate his length that delved deeper with slow and shallow thrusts. The muscle of his chest and stomach rippled against her back, his teeth nicking her shoulder, soothing the affectionate nips with gentle kisses between his breathy moans. A sound that could have destroyed her right then and there.

Mina rolled her body with his, grinding her back into his achingly slow thrusts in unison. She remembered this sensation well, that first night when Khai lifted her onto the vanity of the hotel room in their fury. It felt like she was coming and she couldn't stop, only this time he seemed to make a point to keep her at the edge of her euphoria without letting it spill over. The far more intimate connection of their bodies, moving languid and slow, the passion in it alone speeding up their tempo only for Khai to regrettably slow it back down to a simmering heat when her body tensed beneath his weight, quivering from riding the intense waves of pleasure from his long deep strokes.

"Khai…" Mina practically begged, silenced by his hand caressing her face, his thumb tracing her parted lips until she sucked it into her mouth.

"Fuck…" He growled at the swirling motion of her tongue around the pad of his thumb, slowing his thrusts as though he might cum. "You said not yet."

"Gods you are making me crazy." She moaned, gripping the blanket under them for any sort of purchase against the pleasure. That full feeling of his thick length inside of her, stroking every part of her and making her wetter than she'd ever been. Aching no matter how complete he made her feel. They'd been at it long enough that even the Moon was high and the city lights seemed to have faded with no signs of stopping.

Khai pulled out again and urged her onto her back, his cock heavy and glistening rested on her stomach, thrumming like a heartbeat. "Now you know how I feel when I'm with you." He whispered, leaning forward against her lips which were parted and fighting for breath, letting the heat of his body seep into her skin. So much reflecting in his deep grey eyes that caught the city's lights from outside, but conveying much more from within. "Seeing what's really important...Always wanting more… "

"You don't have to want, you have me," Mina whispered, piercing her eyes with his as she caressed his face, brushing the stray hairs that hung carelessly in front of his eyes. "You have all of me.." Her fingers hooked around his neck, buried in his damp hair to kiss him. She rolled her hips against his thick length, still posed between her thighs, slipping her tongue between Khai's parted lips when he groaned, and after so many minutes, she begged. "Please…"

Mina caught his deep moan with her tongue as he pressed himself inside of her, lacing his fingers with hers, pressing her down into the mattress with a steady rhythm. Lips caressing her neck, tasting the budded tips of her breasts, taking all of her that he wanted, and she was afraid he'd steal her heart completely in the process. Softer moans escaped between her lips, too focused on his comforting weight as he moved, the feeling of their connection that slipped in and out of her without ever disconnecting. Khai locked his eyes onto hers as they moved together with fervent synchronization, and Mina could feel his hand shaking in her grasp.

"More…" He groaned, cursing again when she moved her hips more rapidly over his cock from below, stroking herself against him more desperately, building the pleasure far too fast. "I'm going to…"

"God yes…" She moaned, letting the first wave of his orgasm, the way his hips jerked, thrumming his cock into that spot inside of her as he spilled his hot release inside of her bring her over the edge.

She couldn't breathe to scream, but her body clenched and shook all around him, fingers curling against his skin, gripping his hand, thrusting her hips into his sensitive cock to prolong the crushing pleasure that spread throughout her limbs and all that mattered was him. No one else could do this to her, shatter her heart and world without even touching her, but when he did, she could feel it in her soul.

It took Khai a moment to come to his senses, not as quickly or as sharp as before, but he rose up on his arms to kiss her affectionately, resting his forehead on hers, brushing hair away from her face. "You are beautiful… maddening and beautiful."

Mina giggled, rolling to her side with him as he slipped his sated flesh from inside of her and fell against the mattress, gazing up at the ceiling with a deep, satiated exhale. Admiring his profile, the subtle outline of it against the city lights outside and nestled against his chest. "You are incredible, and not just in bed."

"In a minute." He chuckled, sliding those grey eyes over toward her with intentions that made her flush. Perhaps it was his smirk. "We'll see if I'm done with you yet."

"We'll see." Mina winked, leaning over to kiss him softly, hopping off the bed to give him a show as she headed back toward the bathroom to clean up.

Khai was under the sheets when she returned. His silver hair messily drying over his shoulders, sitting up against the pillows and staring out at the city. Biting her lip, she slipped in beside him, studying his thoughtful expression as though he was far away.

"Hey, Khai… what is it that YOU want?"

"I want to take you to Dubai… to meet my Mom."

Mina went slack jawed, eyes wide and suddenly scared. And not just of his mother. "OH."

"If you want to." He added, clearing his throat. "I thought we could go to Thrace. I could show you my home in Istanbul...make a trip of it. Fly home from Dubai."

"I do." She spit out too fast but not fast enough. Just like that there was tension, an awkward silence between them. They may have been official for a while but for someone like Khai it was so new. Committing to more than just his job was a grand gesture. THIS was a grand gesture.

"It wouldn't be for several months so..."

"Plenty of time to let the production company know… If I get this role." Mina replied, tilting her head to catch his eyes which gleamed with confidence.

"You mean when you do."

Mina leaned back against the pillows, they smelled like him. They gazed at each other a long moment, the tension melting away into certainty. It was in every beat of her heart that seemed like it was thundering in her ears. "I want to go with you, very much."

"I want you." He replied, lacing his fingers with hers just to bring them to his lips which were swollen and perfect.

It was going to be a very long night.

They made love until the sun peeked through the buildings, and Mina thought it felt so familiar, like coming full circle. But the man currently wrapped around her was fast asleep breathing deep and even against her sweat sheened skin and everything felt so certain, the way she thought it should feel. Perfect. Turning her head, she watched him sleep for a moment, face relaxed without all that tension on his brows and jaws he looked even more ethereal.

Carefully she kissed Khai's still swollen lips and accessed the few purple marks darkening on his neck and smiled. She was so scared, but not of him or what they were becoming, but how he made her feel. She'd always had a knack for the romantic, the amorous, with larger than life dreams of fate and soulmates that Rei had tried to knock down a few pegs on occasion, and Ami would flush as she tried to pin some form of logic to it.

There was no logic to the way she felt in that moment, lying awake in his arms with nothing but fate to explain the way they'd come together. As though somewhere in another universe they weren't meant to be so happy, so carefree, belong to each other so completely. An odd feeling in her gut that perhaps this was their chance, even when she had no recollection of the opposition. A chance she couldn't let just pass her by.

Her fingers wound in the silver hair stark against the dark pillow and Mina took a shuddering breath, whispering to a man who wouldn't hear her in his deep slumber. Though she thought she saw it, there in his earnest grey eyes, in measured moments throughout the night. Even felt it in his touch.

"I think I'm in love with you… Mister Mob Boss…."


End file.
